Social Security Act 1973

66 Establishment of the Board; their functions and procedure.

(1) The Occupational Pensions Board shall be a body corporate by that name and have—

(a) the functions conferred on them by this Act; and

(b) such advisory functions as may be conferred on them by the Secretary of State in respect of occupational pension schemes (including public service pension schemes).

(2) The Board shall consist of a chairman, a deputy chairman and not less than 8 nor more than 12 other members, all appointed by the Secretary of State; and of the members other than the chairman and deputy chairman, one shall be appointed after consultation with organisations representative of employers, and one shall be appointed after consultation with organisations representative of employed earners (being in either case such organisations as the Secretary of State thinks it appropriate to consult).

(3) In Part II of Schedule 1 to the [1957 c. 20.] House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 (bodies of which all members are disqualified) there shall be inserted at the appropriate place in alphabetical order—

• “The Occupational Pensions Board”;

and the same words shall also be inserted at the appropriate place in alphabetical order in the Part substituted for Part II by Schedule 3 to that Act in relation to the Senate and House of Commons of Northern Ireland.

(4) The Board shall be included among the tribunals in relation to which the Council on Tribunals may under section 5 of the [1971 c. 62.] Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971 make general recommendations as to appointments to membership ; and the functions of the Council shall include that of keeping under review, and from time to time reporting on—

(a) the constitution of the Board; and

(b) their working, so far as relating to matters dealt with by the Board by means of a formal hearing, or on review.

(5) Schedule 17 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Board and their affairs.

(6) It shall be the duty of the Board, as soon as practicable after the end of each calendar year, to make to the Secretary of State a report on the exercise of their functions in that year; and the Secretary of State shall lay a copy of the report before each House of Parliament.

(7) The Secretary of State may make regulations generally as to the procedure to be followed by the Board in the exercise of their functions and the manner in which their functions are to be exercised and may in particular make provision—

(a) as to the procedure to be adopted in connection with the issue, cancellation, variation or surrender of recognition certificates, and with applications, determinations and the making of orders ;

(b) as to the hearing of parties, the taking of evidence and the circumstances (if any) in which a document of any prescribed description is to be treated, for the purposes of any proceedings before the Board, as evidence, or conclusive evidence, of any prescribed matter;

(c) as to the time to be allowed for making any application or renewed application to the Board (whether for an order or determination of the Board, or for the review of a determination, or otherwise);

(d) as to the manner in which parties to any proceedings before the Board may, or are to, be represented for the purposes of the proceedings.

(8) Regulations under subsection (7) above may provide for enabling the Board to summon persons to attend before them and give evidence (including evidence on oath) for any purposes of proceedings in connection with an occupational pension scheme, to produce any documents required by the Board for those purposes, or to furnish any information which the Board may require relating to any such scheme which is the subject matter of proceedings pending before them.

(9) So far as regulations under subsection (7) above relate to procedure on any formal hearing by the Board, the power of the Secretary of State to make them shall be exercisable only after consultation with the Council on Tribunals.