Pensions Weekly Update

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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 Pension Schemes Bill (the Bill) is scheduled to receive its second reading in the House of Commons on 7 July 2025. You can follow the progress of the Bill on the UK Parliament website. For a reminder of the issues covered by the Bill, see our newsletter of 6 June 2025.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued an eight week consultation on proposals for “targeted support”, to assist consumers with pensions and investment decisions. The proposals would allow firms to make specific recommendations designed for groups or cohorts of consumers with common characteristics, to direct them to products that would deliver better outcomes. The FCA also plans to consult on simplifying its advice rules and guidance, to give firms confidence that they can provide simple, focused advice to customers with straightforward needs at a lower cost.
In a speech given at the Annual Conference of the Investment Association, Nausicaa Delfas, CEO of The Pensions Regulator (TPR), challenged investment managers to innovate and help pension trustees to diversify their investments to deliver better outcomes for savers. She said that greater scheme consolidation and the advantage of scale will open the door to “greater investment sophistication.”
The Treasury Select Committee has published a report on its inquiry into the Lifetime ISA (LISA). It will probably not surprise our readers that LISAs may not achieve an optimum retirement outcome for employees who opt to save into such a product rather than a workplace pension scheme. Particular issues relate to lack of employer contributions, lower tax relief for higher and additional rate taxpayers, and savers choosing unsuitable investments. However, it is acknowledged that stocks and shares LISAs (as opposed to cash LISAs) “can be a useful complementary retirement saving vehicle for some people including the self-employed”.
In our latest blog, “All the Fun of the Fair”, professional support lawyer Claire Dimmock shares her views on the measures contained in the Bill and what to look out for next.