The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulations 32I and 36 of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (“the 2010 Regulations”).

Regulation 2(2) amends regulation 32I of the 2010 Regulations so as to provide that the modification to the alternative requirements during the transitional periods under that regulation applies to hybrid schemes that satisfy the alternative requirements under regulation 32G of the 2010 Regulations.

Regulation 2(3) amends regulation 36 of the 2010 Regulations to—

• insert paragraph (2A) so as to provide that an average salary scheme which requires benefits to be revalued at less than the minimum rate is not prevented from being a qualifying scheme if both the scheme’s funding and statement of funding principles (or equivalent) assume that revaluation will be at or above the minimum rate;

• provide that the minimum rate is, where the scheme is a scheme established under section 1 of the Public Service Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 or is a new public body pension scheme (as defined in section 31(4) of that Act), the relevant percentage specified in an order under section 9(2) of that Act or, in any other case, whichever is the least or lesser of the increase in the retail prices index, the general level of prices and 2.5%.

Regulation 3 makes consequential revocations.