Explanatory note

These Regulations make amendments to—

• the Occupational Pension Schemes (Requirement to obtain Audited Accounts and a Statement from the Auditor) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (“the Audited Accounts Regulations”);

• the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (“the Scheme Administration Regulations”);

• the Occupational Pension Schemes (Assignment, Forfeiture, Bankruptcy etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (“the Assignment Regulations”);

• the Pension Sharing (Pension Credit Benefit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the Pension Credit Benefit Regulations”);

• the Personal Pension Schemes (Payments by Employers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the Payments by Employers Regulations”);

• the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (“the Investment Regulations”);

• the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (“the Consultation by Employers Regulations”).

Regulation 1 provides for citation and commencement.

Regulation 2 inserts a definition and updates references in the Audited Accounts Regulations.

Regulation 3 inserts definitions and substitutes a definition in, and makes an amendment to, the Scheme Administration Regulations.

Regulation 4 makes minor amendments to the interpretation of the Assignment Regulations and clarifies the procedure by which the trustees of a scheme may discharge rights derived from equivalent pension benefits under Part III of the National Insurance Act (Northern Ireland) 1966.

Regulation 5 corrects an error in the Pension Credit Benefit Regulations.

Regulation 6 inserts regulation 5A into the Payments by Employers Regulations to preserve the requirement for trustees or managers of a personal pension scheme or a stakeholder pension scheme to send an employee a statement of payments made where direct payment arrangements exist between the employee and his employer. This amendment is a consequence of the coming into operation of Article 245 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 which amends section 107A of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993.

Regulation 7 corrects errors in the Investment Regulations and extends the provisions under which sums which fall or fell to be treated as debts due from the employers to the trustees or managers for the purposes of regulation 13 of those Regulations.

Regulation 8 amends the Consultation by Employers Regulations so that in relation to their application to small employers they are consistent with the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 47).

The Pensions (2005 Order) (Commencement No. 5 and Appointed Day) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 321 (C. 24)) provides for the coming into operation of Article 246 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (“the 2005 Order”), which substituted Articles 49(9)(b) and 86(1) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (“the 1995 Order”) two of the enabling provisions under which these Regulations are made, for the purposes only of authorising the making of regulations, on 1st July 2005 and for all other purposes on 6th April 2006 and the Pensions (2005 Order) (Commencement No. 7) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 543 (C. 37)) provides for the coming into operation of some other enabling provisions under which these Regulations are made, as follows—

• Article 221 of the 2005 Order, which substituted Article 35 of the 1995 Order, for the purposes only of authorising the making of regulations, on 6th December 2005 and for all other purposes on 30th December 2005;

• Articles 236(1) and 237(1) of the 2005 Order, for the purpose only of authorising the making of regulations, on 1st January 2006 and for all other purposes on 6th April 2006.

As these Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain, the requirement to consult under Article 117(1) of the 1995 Order and Article 289(1) of the 2005 Order does not apply by virtue of paragraph (2)(e) of each of those Articles.