At the FPB, we want to offer you the most up-to-date expert advice on topics that affect your business. So, step forward FPB's new pensions adviser, Jeremy Harris, of pensions lawyers of the year DLA Piper.

We put Jeremy on the spot to answer some frequently asked pensions-related questions, and highlight some of the areas of government pensions policy that employers (and the FPB) will have to be aware of in the coming years.

FPB: Hello Jeremy, we wanted to start by firing at you some frequently asked questions, so that members can get a couple of answers straight in their heads, before we go into a discussion about pensions policy.

Jeremy: Fire away!

FPB: Ok, first FAQ. "Do I have to provide a stakeholder pension for employees?"

Jeremy: If there are 5 or more employees, then the employer has to make an arrangement available, but does not have to contribute to the pension. So, it would mean approaching an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) or an insurance company directly to set something up for your employees, but you wouldn't have to contribute any money to it, although you would have to provide, at the employee's request, for payroll deductions, i.e. amounts taken out of employee's salary and paid into the pension scheme.

FPB: OK, next question. "We're selling our business / being taken over, what will happen to the pensions?"

Jeremy: Right, well this depends on the circumstances, meaning, whether it's a business sale or a share sale, and whether they are personal pensions or an occupational scheme. Business sale first: if it's an occupational scheme, it remains behind with the seller, although some rights do transfer. If the pensions are personal schemes, they are fully portable between employers. Now, if it's a share sale, the entire occupational pension scheme would go across with the principal employer. If it's a share sale and the pensions are personal pensions, they also go across.

FPB: Sounds complicated, thanks for that. Next one. "What is the likely monthly payment I will receive from my pension on retirement or if I decide to retire early?"

Jeremy: It depends how much you paid in! It also depends on how the pension benefits are secured, whether through annuity rights or income withdrawal. Income withdrawal is more high risk with a higher potential return, appropriate for higher value pensions accounts where you can afford to lose something if the stock markets take a dive. Annuities provide more security, but as such, are more expensive.

FPB: Great, I am sure our members found that really useful. Now, let's go on to areas of pensions policy. What should we be looking out for?

Jeremy: Well, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently consulting on approaches to the calculation of transfer values.

FPB: This sounds like another minefield, go on….

Jeremy: No, in actual fact it's fairly simple. When an employee leaves a company, a transfer value for their pension has to be calculated, if the employee requests it. The Government was previously considering requiring employers' pension schemes to provide transfer values from defined benefit pension schemes on a uniformly more generous basis, based on bond returns, but now they are talking about scheme-specific calculations, where actuaries calculate a transfer value based on the best estimate of the value of the deferred pension and are allowed to take into account any administration costs. For money purchase schemes, for people who worked more than 3 months but less than 24 months, the Government are now saying that transfer values may take account of the difference between the value at the time of leaving and the time of requesting the transfer, instead of being based purely on the value at the time of leaving (with the scheme being exposed to falls in scheme asset values in the intervening period).

FPB: A sensible move, then.

Jeremy: Mildly beneficial, I think.

FPB: I think we will write in a letter of mild approval, then! What other areas of pensions policy should we be aware of?

Jeremy: Obviously compulsion is the big one for most small and medium-sized businesses. When this comes in (which is expected to be in 2012), the employee will contribute 4%, and the employer 3%, of earnings between £5,000 and £33,000, unless the employee opts out. Only the employee can opt out, in which case, they opt the employer out too. Certain things still have to be worked out: transitional arrangements, and whether there will be exemptions for smaller businesses. However, in general, this is seen by the Government as the only way to get the amount of contributions needed to secure people in their retirement in the future. Employers also have to decide whether to opt for the new personal accounts for their staff, or for an occupational pension scheme, to meet these new proposed obligations. The former is more suitable for companies with fewer employees.

FPB: That will definitely take some getting used to. Jeremy, thanks for answering our questions today!