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AE scheme will build on Revenue payroll data

An Eversheds Sutherland briefing note on the pension Auto Enrolment Bill points to some important operational amendments tabled for the report stage on 29 May.

The note sets out committee-stage amendments, including a proposal to give the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) a stronger role in the investment of auto enrolment (AE) savings, and to apply environmental, social and governance (ESG)-type filters to at least some of the investment options. 

None of those proposed amendments was adopted at committee stage however. 

Tweaks

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys (pictured) has also announced certain amendments that she plans for report stage, largely operational tweaks.

The minister is proposing that:

• Pan-European Personal Pension Products (PEPPs) will be an acceptable alternative to participation in the AE system,
• Procedures for recognising that an AE saver has died, and for allowing suspension of contributions by an AE saver, will no longer be prescribed by regulation, but instead will be simply published by the AE Authority on an operational basis.

Avoiding 'bureaucratic procedures'

Eversheds describes this as intended to avoid overly restrictive or bureaucratic procedures for dealing with these scenarios.

Amendments will also allow for the transfer of employer payroll data to the AE Authority so a reconciliation exercise can be undertaken, and from employees to the AE Authority in respect of their joining another pension scheme.

This reflects discussions with Revenue and highlights that existing, highly-developed PAYE payroll interface Revenue has with employers.

This interface will be the key information source from which the AE Authority will draw its data on eligibility for, ongoing enrolment in, and exemption from, the AE system. 

The Eversheds lawyers expect few substantive changes to the bill. 

However, they state that enactment of the legislation will only be the first stage in a long and very complex implementation process, where the real challenges will lie for the designers of the system.