Pensions Weekly Update – 11 June 2024

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Here is our weekly summary of key legal and regulatory developments relevant to occupational pension schemes that you might have missed, with links for further information.

The Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) has published a guide on Data Accuracy vs Data Presence. The guide considers what trustees should do to improve and maintain their scheme’s data accuracy and refers to The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) increased focus on good record keeping. TPR said in a recent statement that it intends to engage with schemes to ask how they are measuring and improving their data (which we covered in a recent update).
With the main political parties’ manifestos expected to be published by the end of this week, it has been reported in the press that the Labour Party will not now be pursuing a return to the lifetime allowance. Given that the rules around the abolition of the lifetime allowance are still being clarified, confirmation that there will be no further changes made by a potential Labour government is likely to be welcomed by the pensions industry. The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto has a climate-related focus for pension schemes, with a promise to require pension funds and managers to show that their portfolios are consistent with the Paris Agreement goals. Meanwhile, the Conservative manifesto includes a pledge to introduce triple lock plus for state pensions, so that income from the state pension will always remain under the income tax threshold, and a pledge to continue to tax pension contributions at an individual’s marginal rate.
The Wider Implications Framework was reestablished in 2022, with the aim of joined-up thinking between the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Ombudsman, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, TPR and The Money and Pensions Service. It has now produced its second annual report, in which it looks at the progress it has made, including how the various organisations have worked together in order to provide a redress scheme for members of the British Steel Pension Scheme and to address issues with certain self-invested personal pension (SIPP) operators.
In our latest Pensions Life Hack director Anna Tomlinson considers how trustees of defined benefit schemes approaching buyout should address the tricky subject of trustee protection.
Our Summer Hot Topics in Pensions highlights 10 key issues for your trustee or corporate agendas. Our publication embraces a theme of summer sporting events, including batting towards compliance with dashboards and the general code, serving up recent court cases and Pensions Ombudsman determinations, and changing the goalposts on legislation.

If you would like specific advice on any of these issues or anything else, please contact a member of our Pensions team.