Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Tuesday, 16 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 October 2007. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Monday, 29 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pensions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 30 March 2006, Official Report, column 1205W, on pensions, what his estimate is of the number of people who have lost their pensions due to the insolvency of the sponsoring employer or where the employer no longer exists; and what progress has been made towards providing a breakdown of this figure by (a) constituency and (b) region.

Answer: We estimate that between 1997 and 2005, around 125,000 people lost some part of their pension due to the insolvency of the sponsoring employer or where the employer no longer exists.Approximately 117,000 non-pensioner members of these schemes are potentially eligible for assistance from the financial assistance scheme (FAS); these members are in around 690 FAS qualifying schemes.Because in most cases the employer no longer exists, the address provided to Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit (FASOU) is that of the administrator or receiver which often bears no geographical relevance to where the company was located. Providing an accurate picture of those who have lost their pensions by constituency and region is therefore not possible.FASOU only has addresses for members about whom schemes have submitted data. We are not, therefore, able to give a meaningful breakdown by location for all affected members.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 159613; 465 c771W
Session: 2006-07
Related items: Pensions
Thursday, 30 March 2006
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Insolvency Pensions
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk