Regulator attacked over the handling of pension probe

MORE than 500 former workers at a Yorkshire company are suffering anguish and possible hardship because of the “inefficient” way the Pensions Regulator has handled its investigations into claims their pension scheme was abandoned, according to a local MP.

Barnsley Central Labour MP Dan Jarvis has written to the Pensions Regulator, Stephen Soper, demanding to know why he has failed to set a date to complete the investigation into the fate of the pension scheme at Carrington Wire, in Elland, West Yorkshire.

According to Mr Jarvis, the uncertainty caused by the Pensions Regulators’ failure to complete its investigation is causing distress to Yorkshire people who could lose tens of thousands of pounds.

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There are fears the pension scheme could be placed into the Pension Protection Fund. If this happens, some Carrington Wire pension scheme members believe they could end up with just 70 per cent of their pension.

Carrington Wire closed with the loss of more than 80 jobs in 2010. Russian parent company Severstal said the decision was due to a contraction in the steel wire market. In 2011, representatives of former employees at Carrington Wire said they were seeking talks with Severstal to ensure guarantees were put in place to safeguard payments being made into the company’s defined benefit pension scheme.

In 2010, Craig Whittaker, the Conservative MP for Calder Valley, wrote to the Pensions Regulator, calling for an investigation into the position of the Carrington Wire pension scheme, after Carrington Wire was sold out of the Severstal group.

Mr Jarvis’s letter says: “The Pensions Regulator has acknowledged that they knew about the pension (scheme’s) abandonment when the sale took place in June 2010, yet it has taken over 20 months for the regulator to consider if any action should take place. I believe this is unacceptable. It is now clear that the inefficient way that the Pensions Regulator has handled this case is a cause for concern. This settlement affects 540 former Carrington Wire employees across the UK.”

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Mr Jarvis said the lack of action was causing confusion, and he called on the Pensions Regulator to hold a meeting with the pension fund trustees. As part of its inves tigation, the Pensions Regulator is studying more than 3,000 documents, which it will send to a Determinations Panel, the body that decides whether the regulator has proven its case.

A spokesman for the regulator said he understood the fund members’ concerns. He added: “We’ve provided Mr Jarvis with as detailed an explanation of our investigation as is possible and have offered to meet with him to discuss the legislation and our processes in more detail. It is a criminal offence for staff at the regulator to share certain information relating to our investigations. We strongly challenge any suggestion we have not maintained contact with the trustees of the scheme.”

Severstal declined to comment.

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