News Archive
April 2009
Budget 2009 – Implications for pensions
Apr 2009 Andrew ShortThis year’s Budget has been headlined by the restriction on pensions tax relief for high earners, as the Government attempts to generate revenue to meet the substantial public spending deficit.
Proposed automatic enrolment rules
Apr 2009 Mark RiordanThe Pensions Act 2008 requires automatic enrolment of eligible jobholders¹ into a qualifying scheme from a date expected to be in 2012. A qualifying scheme could be an existing occupational pension scheme, a workplace personal pension or Personal Accounts. Employers will have to make arrangements for automatic enrolment into a qualifying scheme, for employees between age 22 and State Pension Age with qualifying earnings² . The DWP is now consulting on how the auto-enrolment regime will actually work in practice. The proposed rules include provision of information, arrangements for postponement of auto-enrolment, and arrangements where a jobholder opts out. Some of the key features are outlined below.
Consultation on Disclosure of Information Requirements
Apr 2009 Andrew ShortThe DWP has published a consultation - Review of Disclosure of Information Requirements applying to Occupational, Personal and Stakeholder Pension Schemes. The consultation is a result of the Deregulatory Review, which concluded that a ‘principles based’ approach to regulation should be explored.
Potential impact of deflation
Apr 2009 Amy RobertsFollowing the drop in the Retail Price Index (RPI) to 0% over the 12 months to February 2009, there has been concern about the impact of negative inflation on pension increases and revaluation.
Regulations coming into force from April 2009
Apr 2009 Andrew ShortThe following regulations have been laid before Parliament, and most have an effective date of 6 April 2009:
Case Law Update
Apr 2009 Rachel McAllisterECJ rules on the Heyday age discrimination case Heyday, an offshoot of the charity Age Concern, challenged the legality of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The case was heard originally by the High Court, which then referred various questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for guidance on the interpretation of the relevant European directive.
PPF 7800 Index
Apr 2009 Andrew ShortThe latest PPF 7800 Index revealed a worsening in the aggregate funding position over February 2009.
New online governance system launched
Apr 2009 Clive WickendenCapita Hartshead has recently announced a partnership deal to make the eShare online governance system available to its administration and Scheme Secretarial clients. Under the new arrangement, Capita Hartshead clients will have access to eShare’s comprehensive ‘gold package’.
