7 days

7 Days is a weekly round up of developments in pensions, normally published on Monday afternoons. We collate this information from key industry sources, such as the DWP, HMRC and TPR.

In this 7 Days

• TPR publishes dashboards guidance and launches “deadline” campaign
• TPR updates guidance on DC scheme return
• PASA publishes new GMP Equalisation guidance on past transfers out
• Small Pots Cross-Industry Co-Ordination Group report published
• DWP launches “Green Nudge”

TPR publishes dashboards guidance and launches “deadline” campaign

TPR published its initial guidance to help trustees prepare for dashboards on 22 June 2022. The guidance is based on draft regulations which were consulted on earlier this year, and will be updated when the final regulations are published in the autumn. In an accompanying press release, TPR launched its “deadline” campaign, urging trustees to take “action now” to ensure they are ready for their staging date, ie the date by which they need to comply with their dashboard duties.

Key first steps for trustees include checking their staging date, liaising with their administrators, suppliers and advisers to understand how they can support the trustees, and deciding how to connect to the dashboard digital architecture.

For more detail, see our Alert.

TPR updates guidance on DC scheme return

TPR has updated its guidance on  completing DC scheme returns, including an example DC scheme return. TPR will send a scheme return notice between July and December 2022 to schemes which need to complete a scheme return this year. Where applicable, schemes will need to answer new questions for 2022 including providing information about the more detailed VfM assessment and providing the website address where the scheme’s chair’s statement extracts, SIP, implementation statement and climate change report (as relevant) have been published.

PASA publishes new GMP Equalisation guidance on past transfers out

On 27 June 2022, PASA’s GMP Equalisation Working Group published guidance on the administration implications of past transfers out. The guidance takes the form of a checklist of the various issues which require trustee consideration and the potential impact any related decisions may have on administration.  The intention is that trustees use the checklist to inform their discussions, capture any decisions made and provide an audit trail for the future.

Small Pots Cross-Industry Co-Ordination Group report published

On 23 June 2022, the Small Pots Cross-Industry Co-Ordination Group published a report exploring solutions to tackle the issue of small deferred pension pots in the AE workplace pension market. This report follows the group’s initial update outlining the case for small pots consolidation (see 7 Days). The group recommends that the following consolidation models should be considered in the future as potential solutions:

• a “pot follows member” model, which could be used where an employee moves jobs
• a multiple “Default Consolidators” model, where certain pots could automatically be transferred
• a “Member Exchange” model which would merge small deferred pots into a member’s active pot.

The group suggests that a combination of these models may be the best approach, but further legislation would be needed for the models to work.

DWP launches “Green Nudge”

The DWP has announced the launch of a “Green Nudge” trial to test the impact of behavioural nudges and messages on increasing saver engagement with the sustainability of pension investments and how this could translate into greener pension decision-making. The trial was commissioned as part of the government’s COP26 agenda and the results of the project are expected to be published later this year.