PSI21.1.1 - Centralised Schemes: General -
Introduction
(This archived guidance relates to HMRC discretionary
practice before the 6th April 2006. For current guidance on
Registered Pension Schemes see the Registered Pension Schemes
Manual)
A scheme in which more than one employer participates is
known as a centralised scheme. There are two main types of
centralised scheme:
[PN21.1]
- those established to provide benefits
solely for employees of closely associated employers (viz
associated as defined in section 590A(3) and (4) ICTA 1988) and/or
for employees of employers who are associated by virtue of a
permanent community of interest, viz common management or
shareholders, interchangeable or jointly employed staff or
interdependent operations, for example one selling the bulk of the
other’s products (see Section 2 of this Part), and
- those established to provide benefits for
the employees of any employer, irrespective of whether or not those
employers are associated (see Section 3 of this Part).
In either case the advantages lie in bringing together the
pension arrangements of several employers so that savings can be
made in the cost of administering the benefits and managing
investments, as well as providing a degree of expertise, all of
which might not be possible if each employer were to establish its
own scheme.
