Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 23 March 2006.

Pensions: Ombudsman’s Report

Question: My Lords, does the Minister accept that the anger of the 85,000 people who have lost their pensions has been aggravated by the meanness of the financial assistance scheme on which they have to rely? Will he confirm—I have received the figure from his office; he was not able to answer me last week—that the amount paid out so far by the FAS is about £100,000, which is less than £1.25 for each of the 85,000 people who have lost their pension? Will he confirm that figure for the record? What exactly did the Prime Minister mean last week when he talked about expediting a review of the financial assistance scheme? Has the Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed that it will be reviewed in advance of the current spending round? If he has agreed, when will the first penny from that review reach the pensioners who need it?

Answer: My Lords, I informed the noble Lord last week of the number of people who had received money from the FAS. He is right that it is roughly estimated that £100,000 has been paid out so far. The Government are disappointed that so few people have received payments so far. We are dependent on information provided by trustees. I have made sure that officials in the financial assistance scheme are being proactive and getting in touch with trustees to expedite the provision of information and speed up payments. We want to speed up payments. The noble Lord mentioned the Statement that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister made last week. He will know that we were committed to reviewing the amount of money that should be given to the FAS as part of the next spending review. We remain committed to that. The Prime Minister said last week that we would do that as quickly as possible, and we will do so.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 680 c353-4
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Department for Work and Pensions Department of Social Security Liability Leaflets Maladministration Workplace pensions Misrepresentation Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Pension funds Pension rights
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk