Committees

Norton pension schemes and the Fraud Compensation Fund

Inquiry

The Work and Pensions Committee is to look at the lessons that can be learned from the experience of the collapse of the Norton pension schemes with the aim of ensuring members of collapsed pension schemes are better protected and supported in the future.

The assets in the Norton pension schemes were invested in the Norton Motorcycle Holdings Ltd which went into administration in 2020. The sole trustee of the schemes, Stuart Garner, was also the sole director of the company. Whistleblowers raised concerns with the Pensions Regulator (TPR) in 2013 and independent trustees were appointed in 2019.

In March 2022, Mr Garner was given a suspended jail sentence for illegally investing pension schemes’ money into his business. The independent trustee said in April this year that it expects to be able to recover a small proportion of the funds owed through the liquidation and bankruptcy processes. It is waiting to be able to make a claim to the Fraud Compensation Fund.

The inquiry will consider The Pensions Regulator’s approach to preventing loss of pension assets through fraud or dishonesty and whether there is scope to speed up the process of assessing eligibility for compensation and making payments. It will also examine the role played by bodies such as independent trustees, the Pensions Ombudsman, the Pensions Regulator, the Pension Protection Fund (in its role as administrator of the Fraud Compensation Fund). 

Read the call for evidence for more detail about the inquiry.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 27 October 2023.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Wednesday 20 March 2024
9:25am Public
Norton pension schemes and the Fraud Compensation Fund - Oral evidence 20 March 2024
9:25am
  • Dominic Harris (Pensions Ombudsman at The Pensions Ombudsman)
  • Anthony Arter (New interim Chair at The Pensions Ombudsman)
10:25am
  • Tony Raymond (General Counsel and Director of Governance Risk and Assurance at The Pensions Regulator)
  • Maria Evgenidou-Wright (Head of Enforcement Proceedings at The Pensions Regulator)
  • David Taylor (Executive Director and General Counsel at Pension Protection Fund)
  • Sara Protheroe (Chief Customer Officer at Pension Protection Fund)
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Wednesday 13 March 2024
9:25am Public
Norton pension schemes and the Fraud Compensation Fund - Oral evidence 13 March 2024
9:25am
  • Sean Browes (Senior Trustee Representative at Dalriada Trustees Limited)
  • Ben Fairhead (Partner at Arc Pensions Law)
10:30am
  • Kristina Kicks (Joint Trustee in Bankruptcy of Mr Stuart Garner at Interpath Ltd)
  • Lee Causer (Joint Liquidator of Norton at BDO UK)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

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