Pensions: what's new this week - January 13, 2025

PDP blog post on updated reporting standard

The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has published a blog post about its updated draft reporting standards for pension providers and schemes. These standards set out the requirements for generating and recording operational information and reporting it to the Money and Pensions Service; the latest version includes a changelog detailing updates as well as corrections that will be made in the next version. The PDP expects to publish the final standards in the first quarter of 2025.

Read the blog post on the PDP’s updated reporting standards.

Looking ahead in 2025

As a reminder, the biggest development on the legislative horizon for UK pensions in 2025 will be the Pension Schemes Bill. There is no definitive list of issues that will be covered in the Bill, but it is expected to address at least the following areas (as per the King’s Speech in July 2024):

• Framework legislation for DB superfunds.
• A standardised value for money framework for trust-based DC schemes (consistent with the framework of metrics and standards that will apply to contract-based schemes).
• Measures for the consolidation of small, deferred DC pension pots.
• A duty for trustees of occupational pension schemes to offer guided retirement products to members.
• Provisions ensuring that the Pensions Ombudsman is a ‘competent court’ (relevant to enforcing determinations in relation to the recovery of overpayments).

More recently the government has indicated that it may also include measures:

• To accelerate the consolidation of UK schemes, including requirements for master trusts and group personal pension schemes used for auto-enrolment to operate at a minimum size and to restrict the number of default arrangements offered. It also proposes to introduce override provisions to enable contract-based arrangements to make transfers without consent to either trust- or contract-based arrangements.
• To legislate for the consolidation of assets in the Local Government Pension Scheme, including minimum standards and strengthened governance requirements.