Debate contribution: Pension Schemes Bill: Legislative Consent Motion

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 18 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

18 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Pension Schemes Bill: Legislative Consent Motion

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5244371

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

The Pension Schemes Bill intends to strengthen pension investment by supporting over 15 million people who save in private-sector pension schemes to get better outcomes from their pension assets and to support the UK Government's mission to deliver growth. The Bill seeks to create a private pensions market that encourages consolidation and focuses on value and outcomes for members, enabling people to have security in retirement and pension schemes to invest in a wider range of assets, driving growth. I will give a brief overview of each clause that extends to Northern Ireland. Clause 48 relates to contractual override and makes provision for pension scheme providers to transfer a member's contract to another provider or vary contractual terms without the need for individual consent where that is in the member's best interests. Clauses 104 to 107 relate to the contracting-out regime that applied between 1997 and its abolition in 2016. The clauses seek to restore certainty about scheme liabilities and funding by allowing schemes to retrospectively obtain actuarial confirmation that benefit changes made during that period meet the reference scheme test even if written confirmation was not obtained at the time. Clause 108 seeks to restore the Pensions Ombudsman's original 1993 role by reaffirming its status as a competent court. That change will remove the need for schemes to seek court enforcement, reducing costs and delays for courts, schemes and members and ensuring an efficient, accessible way of resolving pension disputes. Clause 109 seeks to extend the terminal illness definition from six months to 12 months for individuals who are entitled to compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the financial assistance scheme (FAS), bringing it into line with similar provisions in social security and tax legislation. The Assembly previously approved that measure through a legislative consent motion (LCM) for its inclusion in a Westminster private Member's Bill; however, that Bill fell at the dissolution of Parliament for the 2024 general election. Clause 111 allows the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to include on its dashboard information relating to the Pension Protection Fund and the financial assistance scheme, including individual-level data. At present, the Pension Protection Fund and financial assistance scheme are excluded from dashboards because they are classified as compensation schemes rather than traditional pension schemes. However, many individuals rely on those payments as part of their retirement income, and their inclusion would significantly enhance the effectiveness and completeness of the service for members of those schemes. The provisions enacted by the clauses listed in the legislative consent motion are intended to become operational shortly after the Bill receives Royal Assent. That means that it will not be possible for an Executive Bill to be passed to meet the same operational date as the Westminster Bill for those measures unless the accelerated passage procedure is used. Agreement that clauses 48, 104 to 109 and 111 should extend here will allow those important provisions to be enacted across all jurisdictions at the same time. Whilst I seek to avoid using the legislative consent motion process where possible, it seemed sensible to secure the pension scheme benefits afforded by those provisions for Northern Ireland members by agreeing to an LCM in respect of the clauses listed. The intention is to introduce in the Assembly a parity Bill for all remaining clauses in the Westminster Bill. I am aware of the importance of the Assembly's role in considering legislation and, in particular, of the value of the Committee's scrutiny role. I am grateful to the Communities Committee for the time that it has taken to consider the measures in such a short timescale. Its report is thorough, and I appreciate its noting that, while it:

"would prefer to see legislation originating in the Assembly",

it is content with the LCM and recognises, based on the evidence received by the Committee, that the changes are beneficial to people in Northern Ireland. I look forward to a robust and thrilling debate on those issues.

666 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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