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On 29 November 2013 the Government issued its response to the consultation on a new system of shared parental leave and pay.

The response explains how the new system of leave is intended to work.

The proposals for shared parental leave and flexible working (the right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more) are included in the Children and Families Bill 2013 which is currently going through Parliament.  The details will be set out in regulations.

On 29 November 2013, the DWP published a consultation to seek views ondraft regulations that introduce technical changes to simplify the administration of private pension schemes.  The draft regulations aim to:

The consultation closes on 10 January 2014.

On 28 November, the DWP published a report which brings together the latest evidence to show what has happened since automatic enrolment began and updates key indicators that will be used to monitor progress throughout implementation.

PensionsEurope has prepared a position paper on the draft legislative proposal on the European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIF).  Pension funds and other institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORP) are very suitable long-term investors due to the match with the long duration and maturities of their liabilities.  Mutual investment vehicles such as ELTIFs are particularly important for small and middle-size IORPs, since they allow them to invest in long-term projects without jeopardizing the diversification of their asset allocation strategy.

On 27 November 2013, GAD issued an announcement relating to broad comparability work carried out by GAD, where staff are eligible for membership of the LGPS following a compulsory transfer of employment.

The announcement explains how the impending changes to the Fair Deal policywill effect GAD’s broad comparability assessments and existing certificates.

On 27 November 2013, HMRC published guidance for individuals, pension schemes and advisers on the taxation of unauthorised transfers to schemes included on the QROPS list.

The guidance concerns transfers of sums or assets which took place before 24 September 2008 from a registered pension scheme to a scheme that was included within the list relation to QROPS.  It will operate in relation to a small number of transfers where the scheme was not a QROPS when the transfer took place.

On 26 November 2013, the NAPF published the findings of its ninth annual survey of pension funds engagement with investee companies.

The survey shows that pension funds are continuing to understand and get to grips with their stewardship responsibilities as set out under the Stewardship Code.  More funds are committing to Code and to its Principles and their expectations of their current and prospective investment managers are increasing in turn.

The report also suggests that the commitment of other signatories to the Code, such as the investment consultant community, appears to be diminishing and poses a concern.

On 29 November 2013, the PPI published a briefing note entitled, “How do charges affect DC pension outcomes“.

On 29 November 2013 the PPF published Issue 4 of Technical News, a newsletter on topical issues including practical guidance for schemes in PPF assessment periods and FAS qualifying schemes.  This issue includes a GMP equalisation project update and information on pension and compensation sharing and divorce and financial issues.

On 2 December 2013, TPR issued a consultation on a revised code of practice for DB scheme funding, a new DB regulatory strategy and a revised DB funding policy regulating DB pension schemes.  Together, these documents set out TPR’s regulatory approach to DB schemes and to DB funding.

TPR intends to hold a series of events and meetings with key industry stakeholders and experts during the consultation period in order to gather their feedback on both broad principles and narrow technical issues.  The consultation closes on 7 February.  It is anticipated that the new code will be in force by July 2014 and will apply to schemes undertaking valuations from that time.

Once the code has come in to effect, TPR intends to produce more accessible ‘quick guides’ for trustees and employers and to update its Trustee toolkit, e-learning modules, and other regulatory guidance material for DB schemes.

We will publish an alert on the consultation shortly.

TPR’s press release