Pensions law update: January 2026

Policy update

Pension Schemes Bill progress

Since the December edition of our newsletter, the Bill has made significant progress in Parliament. Having completed its report stage and third reading in the Commons on 3 December, an updated version of the Bill, incorporating all of the changes agreed so far was published on 5 December – you can read the Bill here.

And since then progress has continued apace, with the second reading in the House of Lords completed on 18 December (the final day of Parliament before the recess).The Bill has now moved to the Committee stage in the Lords, where further amendments have been proposed and are being considered. You can read the list of amendments here.

s37 remedy changes

The 5 December version of the Bill incorporates some important changes to the draft s37 remedy provisions in the Bill. Richard Knight and Louise Pettit set out the changes and their implications for schemes.

What’s on the agenda for 2026?

Richard Knight was delighted to be invited to contribute to this Pensions Expert article on the legal outlook for 2026. With so many developments over recent weeks, it was a refreshing opportunity to step back from the day to day and look ahead to what’s on the pensions law horizon for 2026. Key themes include developments in surplus-sharing, data protection and cyber security, AI and of course, the decision in Verity Trustees v Wood.

Pensions Ombudsman – overpayments information sheet

The Pensions Ombudsman has published a new factsheet – “Pension Overpayments: Information for members”. The publication is designed to explain to members what an overpayment is, the obligations in relation to repaying overpaid monies and the potential legal defences that may exist for members in specific situations. It also covers when and how TPO can help if there is a dispute that cannot be resolved.

TPO is encouraging schemes to share the factsheet with members, ideally at the early stage when the member is informed that an overpayment has been made. It should also be provided when a member queries or disputes a scheme’s attempt to recoup an overpayment. The aim is that the information “supports both parties to work together to agree whether, how and over what period an overpayment should be recovered”.

From the courts

Suzanne Padmore and Lucy Clowes outline the decision in a recent pensions Part 8 claim, where the parties were successful in obtaining the court’s approval for a proposed settlement involving rectification of historic scheme documentation.

Team news

We were delighted that recent articles by Samantha Howell and Amy Khodabandehloo were featured in techSPARK for their cyber awareness month.

You can read their insights on lessons from the Capita cyber incident and on legal privilege in the context of a cyber incident as part of techSPARK’s guest blogs.

Attending these webinars will allow you to gain valuable insights from industry experts, understand the latest regulatory expectations, and acquire practical tips to enhance your scheme’s resilience.

We hope you find the above helpful but, as always, please do get in touch if you have any questions or you would like to discuss anything further.