UK Pensions Regulator Announces Three-year Agenda

March 30, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Preparing for automatic enrolment, improving standards of governance and administration, and filling deficits as soon as reasonably affordable are among the top priorities set out in The Pensions Regulator’s Corporate plan 2010-2013.

According to a press release, during the next three years the Regulator will:

  • Continue to emphasize to trustees the importance of setting prudent funding targets and agreeing with employers that any resulting deficit is filled as quickly as possible;
  • Support employers in implementing auto-enrollment and design and build an effective compliance regime;
  • Focus on standards of delivery of DC schemes – looking to trustees and providers to ensure they are effectively run and suited to members’ needs;
  • Improve standards of administration across the industry;
  • Continue to raise standards of governance by trustees, ensuring governance of DC issues receives appropriate attention;
  • Continue to monitor transfers of pensions risk away from employers to ensure that, where such practices occur, members’ benefits are protected; and
  • With an increasing workload and in an environment of constrained public expenditure, continue to direct its resources in the areas of greatest risk to members, educate and enable the industry to respond, and reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

     

The Regulator has also overhauled the design and content of its Web site – tailored to be user-friendly for employers, individuals, pension professionals and trustees – and launched new information for employers to help them get ready for workplace pension reforms, the announcement said. The Web site will feature simple guides for those who are new to pensions as well as regulatory guidance and codes of practice for the traditional audience of trustees and pensions professionals.

In addition, a leaflet will be published in coming weeks to inform employers of their new workplace pensions reform duties, followed by further Web content later in the year. The Regulator will also be consulting on its enforcement strategy for the new employer duties to auto-enroll employees into pension schemes from 2012.
      

The Corporate plan 2010-2013 is here.

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