Pensions News Flash: Ministerial Statement on next steps following the Pension Schemes Act 2021

On 2 March 2021 Guy Opperman noted in a ministerial statement that the government is “progressing the secondary legislation to ensure the UK’s pension system is safer, better and greener.”

The sequencing will be as follows:

• Spring for consultation on the majority of draft regulations in relation to the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) powers
• Early Summer for consulting on draft regulations on Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes and in relation to preventing scams
• Summer for laying the Occupational Pension Schemes (Climate Change Governance and Reporting) Regulations 2021 (following the recent consultation in January 2021), to come into force ahead of COP26
• Early Autumn for commencement on the scams measures
• Autumn for commencing TPR’s powers and the criminal offences measures
• Later this year for consulting on draft regulations:
  • in relation to the duty to give notices and statements to TPR in respect of certain events (for commencement as soon as practical thereafter)
  • for the pensions dashboard
  • for defined benefit funding
• 2022 for laying draft regulations on the pensions dashboard for debate

We reported here recently on the Pension Schemes Act being given Royal Assent and the early indication of the timetable for the relevant secondary legislation will no doubt be welcomed by the pensions industry.