Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme in reducing wildlife exposure to rat poisons; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking further steps to combat criminal use of rat poisons to kill birds of prey.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Rodenticides Stewardship Scheme was developed by The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use and is overseen by the Government Oversight Group for Rodenticide Stewardship (GOG), chaired by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The GOG is conducting a review of rodenticide stewardship, under which it will consider all appropriate evidence. The detailed work of this review is expected to be completed in 2025.
Wildlife crime is a matter for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Welsh and Scottish Governments, and the Police. Bird of prey crime is identified by Defra as a national wildlife crime priority, and significant sanctions are available against proven perpetrators of the crime, including an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. HSE may also take action, where appropriate, in its role as a workplace health and safety regulator.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing indexation of pension rights accrued before April 1997.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is for sponsoring employers to decide what pension benefits they offer, provided these meet minimum standards. These benefits are set out in the scheme rules. It would not be appropriate for the Government to interfere in decisions made by individual schemes, beyond setting clear, affordable minimum standards that apply to all.
Pensions legislation does not usually apply new provisions retrospectively to rights that have already been accrued. It is generally seen to be unreasonable to add liabilities to pension schemes that could not have been taken into account in the funding assumptions that determined the contributions to be paid at the time. In some cases, the additional, unplanned liabilities could result in significant additional contributions from the sponsoring employer, and could ultimately threaten the future viability of some schemes.
It is important to achieve a balance between providing members with some measure of protection against inflation and not increasing schemes’ costs beyond a level that schemes and employers can generally afford.