Pensions Weekly Update – 3 September 2025

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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.

As Parliament returns from its summer recess, the Pension Schemes Bill will come under greater scrutiny as it is considered by the public bill committee of the House of Commons. The committee heard oral evidence on 2 September from representatives of various industry bodies, schemes and regulators, including the Association of British Insurers, Pensions UK, The Pensions Regulator (TPR), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Trades Union Congress, the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Advisory Board, the Pensions Management Institute and the Society of Pension Professionals. The committee will debate the bill further on 4 September, when it will start to consider 106 pages of proposed amendments. Amendments have been proposed to most chapters of the bill along with the introduction of some new measures, including those that impact specific named pension schemes. We highlight a few of the amendments that have been tabled. First, there are proposed amendments that would significantly expand the release of surplus provisions, including in relation to surplus thresholds, member notification requirements and winding up scenarios. A requirement is also proposed that annual increases in line with the consumer prices index (but without specifying over what period) must be applied before surplus may be refunded to the employer. There are other amendments proposed elsewhere that also address the lack of statutory increases to pre-97 pension amounts; for example, Page 88 includes an amendment that the secretary of state must publish a report on “whether the fiduciary duties of trustees of occupational pension schemes should be amended to permit discretionary indexation of pre-1997 accrued rights, where scheme funding allows”. We think it is likely that this proposal, if progressed, may be reframed in due course. Second, amendments to the scale and asset allocation requirements of the bill (Part 2, Chapter 3) insert a definition of main scale default arrangement and there is a proposed amendment that seeks to remove the government’s ability to set mandatory asset allocation targets. Third, an amendment is proposed to the trustee disqualification provisions contained in the Pensions Act 1995 that would prevent any person who “has a personal or financial interest in the pension scheme except for member-nominated trustees” from acting as trustee. The explanatory note says that this is intended to make “pension scheme trustees truly independent of the sponsoring companies”. We think that this amendment is likely to be dropped or qualified, not least to continue to allow trustees to be paid. Fourth, there is a proposal to change the way that UK companies account for defined benefit deficits in their report and accounts (see Page 96). Perhaps the most noteworthy amendment starts on Page 75, which addresses the Virgin Media decision and instances where amendments were made to schemes that were contracted out on the reference scheme test basis but where the trustees are not able to locate written actuarial confirmation that the scheme would continue to meet the statutory standard, post-amendment. While the detail will no doubt be hammered out, the proposed amendments would mean that for some schemes it will become possible to seek retrospective actuarial confirmation that the scheme would have continued to meet the statutory standard. Generally, those schemes where the trustees have taken “positive action” (such as notifying members) to treat an amendment as invalid by virtue of lack of actuarial confirmation will be out of scope of the remedy. Likewise, schemes where legal proceedings had commenced on or before 5 June 2025 in relation to the validity of certain otherwise remediable amendments (whether decided upon, settled or still in issue) will be out of scope of the remedy. There are also remedial provisions for schemes that have wound up or been transferred to the Pension Protection Fund or Financial Assistance Scheme. It is worth bearing in mind that these are proposed amendments only, to a bill that is still in draft, and many more changes/amendments are likely as the bill passes through Parliament. It is expected that the committee will have completed its review of the bill by 23 October, when it will be remitted back to the House of Commons, incorporating any amendments proposed by the committee, for further consideration.
Tim Reichardt, head of programme delivery, Pensions Dashboards Programme, has issued a blog post on progress with dashboards connection, highlighting how feedback from those who have now connected to the ecosystem will make the process easier for those yet to connect. Tim Reichardt reiterates that TPR and the FCA have “made clear there will be no regulatory intervention for those unable to meet their ‘connect by’ date solely due to their dependence on an industry participant who has yet to connect”.
Have you seen our Autumn Hot Topics in Pensions? Our back-to-school themed publication highlights important developments for your trustee and corporate agendas.

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