7Issue of contracting-out and appropriate scheme certificates
(1)Regulations shall provide for the Board to issue certificates stating—
(a)that the employment of an earner in employed earner’s employment is contracted-out employment by reference to an occupational pension scheme; or
(b)that a personal pension scheme is an appropriate scheme;
and in this Act a certificate under paragraph (a) is referred to as “a contracting-out certificate” and a certificate under paragraph (b) as “an appropriate scheme certificate”.
(2)The regulations shall provide for contracting-out certificates to be issued to employers and to specify—
(a)the employments which are to be treated, either generally or in relation to any specified description of earners, as contracted-out employments; and
(b)the occupational pension schemes by reference to which those employments are to be so treated.
(3)An occupational pension scheme is a contracted-out scheme in relation to an earner’s employment if it is for the time being specified in a contracting-out certificate in relation to that employment; and references in this Act to the contracting-out of a scheme are references to its inclusion in such a certificate.
(4)A personal pension scheme is an appropriate scheme if there is in force an appropriate scheme certificate issued by the Board in accordance with this Chapter that it is such a scheme.
(5)An appropriate scheme certificate for the time being in force in relation to a scheme shall be conclusive that the scheme is an appropriate scheme.
(6)Regulations shall provide that any question whether a personal pension scheme is or at any time was an appropriate scheme shall be determined by the Board.
(7)Except in prescribed circumstances, no contracting-out certificate or appropriate scheme certificate shall have effect from a date earlier than that on which the certificate is issued.