Pensions Weekly Update – 12 February 2025

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 Regulator (TPR) has issued a blog updating the industry on recent efforts to combat pension scams. TPR leads the Pension Scams Action Group (PSAG) – a multi-agency team uniting law enforcement, government and the pensions industry. TPR invites you to be “part of the conversation” in a Fighting Pension Fraud webinar hosted by PSAG and the City of London Police on Tuesday 25 March at 2:30 p.m. TPR also reminds the industry of the importance of reporting pension scam activity, to enable it to identify and disrupt scams at an early stage.
• The Treasury Committee has issued a call for evidence to aid its inquiry on the potential impacts of the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in banking, pensions and other financial services. Figures published by the Bank of England show that 75% of firms are already using AI, with a further 10% planning to use it over the next three years. The deadline for submissions is Monday 17 March, and the Treasury Committee would like to hear from a range of respondents.
• The Trustee Sustainability Working Group (TSWG) has published on LinkedIn its six key ambitions for 2025, including working with regulators and other market participants to clarify guidance for climate scenario analysis, advocating for no new fossil fuel (distinguished from disinvestment), as well as assisting the industry to put in place for large schemes a transition plan and for small schemes changing the implementation statement requirements.
• The government has published interim findings in relation to the private sector midlife MOT pilots, which were launched in East Anglia, the North East of England and Cornwall and Devon in May 2023. The aim was to test a private sector led programme to encourage employers to support employees aged 45-to-55 to engage with later life planning. The pilots were delivered by three separate providers. The findings note that some employers who participated felt that the programmes helped to fill in gaps in the provision they offered on later life planning but felt that it was too early to assess outcomes. For most participants, it was noted that their involvement with the programme was seen as valuable, although experiences were mixed with some finding it less useful. Low employer and participant uptake was a feature of the pilots, which limited some of the research to only one area and resulted in the pilots concluding early.
• Our colleagues in the Labour and Employment team recently asked a couple of questions of their blog readers around the use of (generative) artificial intelligence, and the results are now in. Read more in their latest blog post.

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