Charles Walker asks the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions a series of questions relating to the transfer of private pensions.

Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has to ensure that the transfer values of private pensions reflect the actual value of the underlying assets; and if he will make a statement; [58529]

(2) if he will introduce regulations to restrict the scope for deductions applied to private pension assets when they are transferred between providers; [58531]

(3) how much was paid in penalty and transfer charges levied by private pension providers on their clients in each of the last three years; [58569]

(4) what research has been undertaken by his Department into the effects of penalty and transfer charges on people's willingness to take out private pensions; and if he will make a statement; [58570]

(5) what mechanisms are in place to record the penalty and transfer charges levied by private pension providers on their clients; and if he will make a statement. [58571]

Mr. Timms: Private pensions in the form of personal pensions and stakeholder pensions are contractual arrangements between individuals and scheme providers. The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) product disclosure rules for personal pensions require that point-of-sale literature includes a description of the charges that can be incurred and a projection illustrating the potential fund values along with the effect of charges at various points in the product's lifecycle. Amongst other things, this is intended to highlight the effects of any transfer penalties in the early years after purchase.

In 2001 the Government introduced the stakeholder pension to provide good value pensions for people who could not join an occupational pension scheme. One of the features of the stakeholder pension is that where a member wants to transfer out of the stakeholder pension, regulations provide that the scope for charges and deductions is very limited. The FSA's product disclosure rules for stakeholder products reflect these regulatory requirements.

The Government do not routinely collect information on the charges levied by personal pension schemes and the Government have no plans to regulate to control charges set by such schemes.

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