
2000 No. 349
PENSIONS
The Personal Pension Schemes (Payments by Employers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000
Made 17th November 2000
Coming into operation 6th April 2001
The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 107A(4)(b) to (7) and (15)(b), 109(1) and (3),177(2) to (4) and 178(1) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993, and now vested in it, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation, commencement and interpretation
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(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Personal Pension Schemes (Payments by Employers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2001.
(2) In these Regulations—
 “scheme” means a personal pension scheme;
 “stakeholder pension scheme” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (meaning of “stakeholder pension scheme”);
 “statement year” has the meaning given by regulation 18(3) of the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (disclosure of information to members);
 “trustees or managers”, in relation to a scheme, means—
(a) in the case of a scheme established under a trust, the trustees of the scheme, and
(b) in any other case, the managers of the scheme.
(3) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
(4) For the purposes of these Regulations and notwithstanding section 39(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, where a period of time is expressed to begin on, or to be reckoned from, a particular day, that day shall be included in the period.
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(6) In these Regulations any reference to a numbered section is a reference to the section of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 bearing that number.
Record of direct payment arrangements
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Prescribed time in which an employer is to make a record of direct payment arrangements available to trustees or managers
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Time limits for giving notice to the Regulatory Authority and to the employee that any contribution which is payable has not been paid and the circumstances in which such notice need not be given
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Prescribed period for the purpose of calculating the due date for the payment of any contribution on behalf of an employee
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(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the prescribed period for the purposes of section 107A(15)(b) (meaning of “due date” where a contribution payable under the direct payment arrangements falls to be paid on behalf of the employee)  is the period of— 
(a) where the contribution payable under the direct payment arrangements is paid to the trustees or managers of the scheme by means of an electronic communication, 22 days, or
(b) in any other case, 19 days,
commencing on the day following the last day of the month in which the deduction was made from the employee’s earnings.
(2) Where an employee becomes an active member of a relevant scheme, in relation to contributions deducted in the relevant period, the prescribed period for the purposes of section 107A(15)(b) is the period commencing on the day on which the first deduction in the relevant period is made and ending—
(a) where the contribution is paid to the trustees or managers of the scheme by means of electronic communication, on the 22nd day of the month following the last day of the relevant period, or
(b) in any other case, on the 19th day of the month following the last day of the relevant period.
(3) For the purposes of this regulation—
 “the 2008 Act” means the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008;
 “electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland) 2001;
 “relevant period” means a period of 3 months commencing on the date from which active membership is effective;
 “relevant scheme” means—
(a) a scheme which is a qualifying scheme in relation to the person under section 16 of the 2008 Act, or
(b) where the person is enrolled in the scheme pursuant to section 9 of the 2008 Act, a scheme which meets the requirements of that section.
The issue of payment statements to an employee
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(1) Where section 107A (monitoring of employers' payments to personal pension schemes) applies the trustees or managers of the scheme must before the end of the interval specified in paragraph (4) or (5), as the case may be, send the employee a statement setting out the amounts and dates of the payments made under the direct payment arrangements during the period specified in paragraph (2) or (3), as the case may be.
(2) Where the scheme is not a stakeholder pension scheme the period is, in the case of—
(a) the first statement referred to in paragraph (1), the period of not more than 12 months beginning with the date the employee joined the scheme and ending with the date of the last payment which appears on that statement, and
(b) the second or any subsequent statement (“the relevant statement”), a period of not more than 12 months beginning with the day following the date of the last payment which appeared on the statement immediately preceding the relevant statement.
(3) Where the scheme is a stakeholder pension scheme the period is the period which is the statement year in relation to that scheme.
(4) Where the scheme is not a stakeholder pension scheme the interval is, in the case of—
(a) the first statement referred to in paragraph (1), the period of 12 months beginning with the date the employee joined the scheme;
(b) the second statement, the period of 12 months beginning with the next anniversary of the date the employee joined the scheme following the date the trustees or managers sent the employee the first statement, and
(c) the third or any subsequent statement, the period of 12 months beginning with the anniversary of the date the employee joined the scheme.
(5) Where the scheme is a stakeholder pension scheme the interval is three months after the end of the statement year to which that statement relates.
(6) A statement referred to in paragraph (1) may be issued in accordance with regulations 26 to 28 of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (giving information and documents).
The issue of payment statements to an employee
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Revocation
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Regulation 5A of the Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 is hereby revoked.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 17th November 2000.
John O'Neill
Senior Officer of the
Department for Social Development
