Eurofoods Group Limited
FOI reference - FOI-415
Date - 6 October 2025
Request
Over the period 02 May 2022 – 06 October 2025
- Correspondence with Eurofoods Group Limited
All letters and emails sent and received between The Pensions Regulator and Eurofoods Group Limited regarding the above pension scheme.
Relevance: These documents will show whether my public interest disclosures correspond with any concerns reported to the Regulator, which is material to establishing knowledge and detriment.
- Flexibility or Concessions given by the Pension Regulator
All letters and emails relating to any “flexibility” or allowances offered by The Pensions Regulator to Eurofoods Group Limited in respect of breaches of the Pensions Act.
- Correspondence with Scottish Widows
All correspondence, including letters and emails, between The Pensions Regulator and Scottish Widows regarding the above scheme.
Relevance: This material demonstrates the pension provider’s awareness of breaches and their subsequent regulatory and employer actions, directly linked to my protected disclosures.
- Late and Materially Significant Payment Failures
A summary of: (a) Late employee pension payments made by Eurofoods Group Limited, and (b) Any materially significant payment failures during the above period.
Relevance: To confirm actual breaches relevant to assessing compliance with the Pensions Act.
- Regulatory Action Taken by the Pension Regulator
A summary of: (a) Warnings, (b) Notices, and (c) Fines issued by The Pensions Regulator to Eurofoods Group Limited during the period in question.
- Scheme Management Contacts
The names and positions of the individuals responsible for managing this scheme at both Scottish Widows and Eurofoods Group Limited during the relevant timeframe.
- Declaration of Compliance
Confirmation of any “Declaration of Compliance” submitted by Eurofoods Group Limited within the specified period.
- Auto-Enrolment Compliance
Confirmation of whether Eurofoods Group Limited was compliant with its auto-enrolment obligations for an employment start date of 02 May 2025 in this scheme.
Response
For questions 1 – 5, 7 & 8, we neither confirm nor deny that we hold information falling within the description specified in your request. Please see exemptions section below.
For question 6, I can confirm that we do not hold this information. However, you should be able to directly contact those parties. Even if we could identify people who have liaised with TPR connected to scheme management, we do not know that they are ‘responsible’ for managing the scheme. For instance, they could be delegated to deal with the administration of the scheme or queries about it by those who are responsible at certain points in time.
Exemptions
Section 44(1)(a) FoIA – restricted information under s82 Pensions Act 2004
The reason that we cannot confirm or deny that we hold the information is because disclosure of the sort of information requested is prohibited under an enactment, save in certain circumstances which do not apply here.
As we have been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others, those powers are also balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’. Restricted information is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:
‘…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person’.
Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we are unable to disclose the requested information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.
This should not be taken as any indication of whether or not we hold the information you requested.
Duty to provide advice and assistance
For the information requested in questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 (plus the relevant part of question 6), Eurofoods Group Limited should hold this information. After any preliminary hearing held by the Employment Tribunal parties to the claim should share documents. Further information about what to do after you've made a claim can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Rule 33 of The Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, sets out the ability of the ET to disclose documents or information to a party such as TPR.