# The Financial Assistance Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Financial Assistance Scheme Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/1986, as amended) (“the FAS Regulations”), the Financial Assistance Scheme (Internal Review) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/1994, as amended) (“the FAS Internal Review Regulations”), and the Financial Assistance Scheme (Appeals) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3273) (“the FAS Appeals Regulations”).
Part 1 makes provision for citation, commencement, extent, and also interpretation.
Part 2 amends the FAS Regulations. In particular it—
amends the definition of multi-employer scheme (regulation 3),
makes provision for an employer in relation to a scheme that has not formally had an insolvency event to be treated as having had an insolvency event for the purposes of regulation 13 of the FAS Regulations, as long as the scheme manager is satisfied that the value of its assets is less than the amount of its liabilities, that it cannot pay its debts as they fall due or have fallen due, and that it is unlikely to continue as a going concern; and also for an employer (in relation to a scheme) that has had an overseas insolvency event that the scheme manager is satisfied substantially corresponds to a qualifying insolvency event (as set out in regulation 13 of the FAS Regulations) also to be treated as having had a qualifying insolvency event as long as the scheme manager is also satisfied that that employer is unlikely to continue as a going concern (regulation 4),
clarifies that a member of a qualifying pension scheme who satisfies the relevant conditions will still be a qualifying member even if he died before the coming into force of the FAS Regulations, as long as he would have satisfied those conditions; it also extends eligibility for assistance to members who were within 15 years of their normal retirement age for their scheme at 14th May 2004 (regulation 5),
clarifies that initial payments are on account of annual payments, clarifies the circumstances under which overpayments will be recoverable, provides that the scheme manager may deem a member or survivor to be receiving an interim pension for the purposes of calculating the amount of initial payments in certain circumstances, and provides that some of the members to whom the extension set out in regulation 5 applies will not be eligible for initial payments (regulation 6), and
amends Schedule 2 to set out how the amount of annual payments is to be calculated for the members and survivors to whom the extension set out in regulation 5 applies, and makes some other amendments in respect of payments to survivors (regulation 7).
Part 3 amends the FAS Internal Review Regulations. In particular it clarifies the definition of potential beneficiary, provides for a right of review and appeal of a decision as to whether or not a member is terminally ill by adding a new reviewable determination, and provides that the scheme manager may issue certain notices via the FAS website where in his opinion it is reasonable to do so (regulation 8).
Part 4 amends the FAS Appeals Regulations by making some consequential amendments to take account of the new reviewable determination in relation to terminal illness, and to ensure consistency as to when an interested person is to be treated as a party to the appeal (regulation 9).
Before making these Regulations the Secretary of State consulted such persons as he considered appropriate.
A regulatory impact assessment has not been published for this instrument as it has only a negligible impact on business, charities and voluntary bodies.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2006/0110752996/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-financial-assistance-scheme-miscellaneous-amendments-regulations-2006/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.