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Occupational Pensions

Absolutely. The financial assistance scheme is not intended to be as generous as the Pension Protection Fund. One of the problems is having a separate scheme, with those deficiencies. I will say a little more about that later. To continue with the deficiencies, spouse benefits are much lower than scheme benefits. Members of schemes winding up with solvent employers are excluded altogether. Those over 15 years from pension age are excluded. People in their 50s, who have contributed for more than 25 years, still have no means of redressing the loss and will get no help. Finally, the FAS does not provide any explicit recognition for the losses of the so-called guaranteed minimum pension—the second state pension that was lost. That turned out to be neither guaranteed, nor minimum. The complexities of the so-called deemed buy-back scheme are proving impossible to negotiate and access.