Issues Affecting All Schemes
Pensions Dashboards: Reporting Standards and Guidance
The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has responded to its consultation on a revised version of the dashboards reporting standards. The response confirms that the revised standards, which will replace ad hoc reporting of data to the Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) with daily reporting, will be adopted subject to approval from the Secretary of State. However, the revised standards will come into force on 1 March 2027, rather than 30 November 2026 as originally proposed. Schemes will be able to adopt daily reporting on a voluntary basis from this summer.
The PDP has also published an integration test pack, which provides an overview of the activity performed in the integration testing phase for reporting standards.
In addition, the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) has published guidance to help schemes and administrators monitor ongoing dashboards compliance. The guidance focuses on the practical monitoring of compliance across three key areas: matching, pension information provision, and connection performance. It also considers the role of member queries, complaints, and feedback in identifying potential compliance issues and supporting continuous improvement.
PASA has also published a note on survivor benefits. The note addresses industry questions regarding the application of survivor benefit indicators within dashboards value data and provides practical guidance to support consistent interpretation across schemes.
Action
Trustees and administrators of schemes that are subject to the dashboards requirements should put arrangements in place to comply with the daily reporting obligation from March 2027.
Company Accounts: Reforms
Companies House has announced that reforms to the rules on company accounts under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will come into force in April 2028. The reforms include:
- Requiring small companies and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House as other companies do, but with the option to opt out of publishing this information on the public register;
- Requiring all companies to file their annual accounts via commercial software;
- Removing the option for companies to file abridged accounts;
- A strengthened eligibility statement for all companies claiming an audit exemption; and
- Requiring component parts of the accounts and reports to all be filed together.
Companies House has updated its guidance on preparing and filing accounts to reflect the announcement.
Action
Corporate pension scheme trustees should ensure that the parties responsible for preparing and filing their accounts are aware of the reforms and will take steps to ensure the trustee company’s compliance with the new requirements when they come into force in 2028.
Statutory Transfer Conditions: Proposed Changes
The government is consulting on proposed changes to the conditions that must be met for a member to have a statutory transfer right. The proposed changes include:
- Enabling transfers to schemes that the trustees consider to be “reputable” pension schemes, without the additional due diligence generally required under the legislation. Currently, transfers without the additional due diligence may only be made to public service pension schemes, authorised DC master trusts and authorised collective DC (CDC) schemes. The revised legislation will include a non-exhaustive list of factors to which trustees may have regard when assessing whether a scheme is “reputable”.
- Introduction of a new “red flag” where the receiving scheme is an occupational pension scheme and the evidence provided by the member does not demonstrate an employment link with the receiving scheme. (Currently, this is just an “amber flag”.)
- Removal of the overseas investments “amber flag”.
- Introduction of an exemption from the requirement to take MAPS scams guidance where there is an “amber flag” if the member provides evidence that they have taken that guidance within the last 12 months.
No amendment or removal is proposed in relation to the incentives “red flag”, despite it having been identified as a problem in the government’s 2023 review of the statutory transfer conditions.
The consultation closes on 21 July 2026. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has urged the industry to respond to the consultation.
Action
Trustees and administrators should monitor the outcome of the consultation.
Abolition of the Lifetime Allowance: Clarificatory Amendments
A range of clarificatory amendments have been made to the legislation governing the abolition of the lifetime allowance and the new lump sum allowance regime, including in relation to the calculation of maximum permitted pension commencement lump sums, and the treatment of transfers between UK and overseas pension schemes and lump sums paid from overseas schemes to UK residents.
Action
No action required.
Automatic Enrolment: Alternative Quality Requirements
As part of its triennial review of the alternative quality requirements for automatic enrolment schemes, the government is calling for evidence on whether the alternative quality requirements for DB, hybrid and CDC schemes are operating as intended. The call for evidence closes on 27 July 2026.
Action
No action required.
Divorce and Separation: Proposed Reforms to Financial Remedies
The government is consulting on reforming financial remedies on divorce and strengthening protections for cohabitants in the event of separation or intestacy. Among other things, the consultation proposes:
- A “codification-plus” model of divorce reform, which would bring settled case law principles, such as those of “needs” and “sharing”, into statutory form. Under this model, courts would be required to consider both parties’ pension needs when making financial orders. An express obligation to consider pensions accrued during the marriage would be included.
- Introduction of “qualifying nuptial agreements” which would enable couples to make binding financial arrangements in advance of divorce. However, where a qualifying nuptial agreement did not make adequate provision for both parties’ financial needs, the court would retain jurisdiction to make orders to meet those needs. For these purposes, “needs” would include items such as housing, capital, income, and pension, but not discretionary needs.
- Introduction of a statutory framework of rights and protections for eligible cohabitants at the point of separation. Where cohabitants met the qualifying criteria under the framework, the courts would have access to a broad set of remedies which reflect what is available on divorce, including pension sharing orders. The framework would be narrower than that for divorce as the financial needs that the courts would be required to consider would include items such as housing, capital, income, and pension, but not discretionary needs, even if resources to meet such needs were available.
- Giving eligible cohabitants the same intestacy rights as spouses or civil partners. No proposals are made in relation to matters such as inheritance tax or the pension entitlements of cohabitants.
The consultation closes on 14 August 2026.
Action
No action required. If the proposed reforms go ahead, schemes could see an increase in the number of pension sharing orders that they are required to implement.
Pensions Ombudsman: Updated Factsheets
The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has updated the following factsheets:
- Death benefit lump sums;
- Ill-health pensions;
- Incorrect information about your pension; and
- How to complain about your pension.
Action
No action required.
Issues Affecting DB Schemes
DB Surplus: New Rules on Release from Ongoing Schemes
The government is consulting on conditions that must be met for an employer surplus payment to be made from an ongoing scheme from April 2027. These include the following:
- The scheme must be fully funded on a low dependency funding basis;
- Members must be notified of the proposed surplus payment at least three months before the intended payment date;
- The actuary must certify that the scheme will be fully funded on a low dependency funding basis following the payment, and that it is expected to remain so for the next three years;
- The payment must be made within five working days of the actuarial certification; and
- TPR must be notified of the payment within one week of payment.
The consultation closes on 2 September 2026.
In addition, TPR has published a statement setting out its early views on:
- The principles that trustees should consider when releasing surplus. These include their powers under the trust deed and rules, the scheme’s funding level, investment strategy and employer covenant, and any potential member benefits.
- Some high-level illustrative examples of how trustees should go about surplus release now, if permitted under their scheme’s trust deed and rules, and how it could change when the new rules on surplus release are introduced.
For more information, please see our Legal Update, Releasing DB Pension Surpluses: the Pensions Regulator’s Views.
Action
Trustees and employers of ongoing DB schemes should monitor the outcome of the consultation. In addition, trustees and employers who are considering a release of surplus from an ongoing DB scheme should review TPR’s statement.
GMP Conversion: Annual Allowance Impact
HMRC is consulting on proposed changes to ensure that deferred members who benefit from the deferred member carve-out protection for annual allowance purposes do not lose that protection following a GMP conversion exercise. The consultation closes on 13 July 2026.
Action
Trustees of schemes that are considering a GMP conversion exercise should monitor the outcome of the consultation.
Flexible Apportionment Arrangements – Government Review
The government has announced that – following the Aberdeen/Stagecoach scheme sponsorship and employer covenant transfer deal last year which involved use of a flexible apportionment arrangement (FAA) – it will review the FAA legislation and consult in due course on whether and how it could be strengthened. The announcement notes that the DB superfund regime reflects the fact that superfunds operate schemes on a commercial basis and is designed to ensure that the interests of commercial providers are appropriately aligned with those of scheme members. Where other mechanisms, such as FAAs, are used in ways that similarly involve the commercial operation of DB pension schemes, it is important to consider whether additional safeguards are required.
Action
No action required.
DB Endgames: TPR Views
In a blog post on innovation in DB endgame solutions, TPR has noted that while insurer buyout may still be the preferred choice for many schemes, it is not the only option. TPR notes that the Pension Schemes Act 2026 will introduce additional flexibility around surplus release and that a dynamic market is fostering new ideas. TPR wants to support innovation while ensuring appropriate risk levels are maintained.
The post goes on to look in more detail at last year’s Aberdeen/Stagecoach scheme sponsorship and employer covenant transfer deal as an example of one such innovation. Ahead of the government’s review of the FAA legislation and any changes to that legislation, TPR will consider an interim approach to transactions involving FAAs that present similar characteristics to the Aberdeen/Stagecoach transaction.
Action
No action required.
Virgin Media: TPR Guidance
TPR has updated its guidance on the statutory Virgin Media remedy to reflect the fact that the Pension Schemes Act 2026 has received Royal Assent and the remedy is now in force. No substantive changes have been made.
Action
No action required.
Issues Affecting DC Schemes
Flexible Benefits: Guidance for Members
MAPS has redesigned the guidance that must be given:
- When a member with flexible benefits who has the option to transfer those benefits has reached normal minimum pension age or will do so in the next four months or meets the ill-health condition and:
- Requests information about what they may do with their flexible benefits; or
- Informs the trustees that they are considering, or have decided, what to do with their flexible benefits.
- As part of the retirement pack provided to members with flexible benefits at least four months before retirement.
The updated guidance has been reduced in length by around half, and has been rewritten to make it clearer and easier to navigate. It provides step-by-step directions to help people understand their retirement options and signposts them to further trusted sources of help, support, and information.
Action
Trustees and administrators of schemes that provide flexible benefits should ensure that, when complying with their statutory disclosure obligations, they provide the updated guidance to members.
Pension Schemes Act 2026: TPR Communications Campaign
TPR has announced the launch of a multi-year campaign to ensure DC schemes are ready for the new requirements that will be introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2026. The campaign will include:
- A direct communications programme to help schemes prepare. The first phase has been launched already with an email encouraging trustees to reflect on their scheme’s ability to comply with the requirements and start to prepare. Regular emails will then be sent out to update recipients on developments.
- Creation of a new Pension Schemes Act 2026 webpage, which sets out details of the new requirements and will be updated as details of secondary legislation become available.
- Forthcoming “roadmap” publications from the government and TPR, setting out more detail on the implementation of the Act.
The campaign’s key message is that trustees should assess if they can meet the higher legislative standards or if members would benefit from consolidation into a scheme that can provide scale, value, and good governance.
Action
Trustees of DC schemes should start considering how, and whether, they will be able to comply with the new requirements that will be introduced by the Act.
Bulk Transfers Without Consent – CDC Schemes
The government has responded to Chapter 9 of its consultation on retirement CDC schemes. Chapter 9 concerned a proposed legislative amendment to allow transfers of DC benefits without consent to authorised CDC schemes. The response confirms that the government will proceed with the proposal. However, the government agrees with respondents that it is not appropriate to transfer members without consent into a retirement CDC scheme because they may not be able to transfer out if they want to do so. It will therefore consider what steps, if any, are needed to ensure the new transfer power does not apply where the receiving scheme is a retirement CDC scheme.
The change will come into force on 31 July 2026. The government has also updated its non-statutory guidance on bulk transfers without consent of DC benefits without guarantees to reflect the change.
Action
No action required.
Bulk Transfers Without Consent: Trustee Obligations
TPO has dismissed a member’s complaint that deferred members had not been consulted about a bulk transfer without consent of DC benefits to a DC master trust or given sufficient notice to transfer to an alternative arrangement. TPO decided that:
- The plan rules and legislation gave the plan trustee power to make a bulk transfer of members’ benefits without consent and did not require it to consult deferred members – only to give them one month’s notice of the transfer which it had done.
- The failure to consult deferred members was not “unfair” or a breach of the trustee’s duty to act in the best interests of beneficiaries. The courts have decided that the “best interests of beneficiaries” should not be viewed as a paramount stand-alone duty but rather as a reformulation of a trustee's obligation to promote the purpose for which the trust was created. The plan’s rules included a specific rule allowing a transfer without consent to be made. In accordance with that rule, the trustee had properly considered whether it would be appropriate to transfer members’ accrued benefits to a master trust and had concluded that it would be. It had therefore exercised that rule for its proper purpose.
- The letter notifying deferred members of the transfer lacked detail on where members could obtain a transfer application form and members would likely have had little time in which to obtain and submit a completed application. However, this did not amount to maladministration. The letter was not misleading and satisfied the legal requirements it was required to meet and there was no evidence to suggest that the trustee had voluntarily assumed a duty of care to consult deferred members or to notify them more than one month in advance of the transfer. As such, there had been no breach of law or maladministration on the part of the trustee giving rise to a claim for non-financial injustice (distress and inconvenience).
Action
No action required.
Mayer Brown News
Recent Work
Andrew Block advised Omni Partners and Infoshare+, Omni’s public sector-focused software and data solutions platform, on the pensions aspects of their acquisition of DEF Software Limited, a leading software provider for the UK local authority market.
Media Comment
Dale Cornish, a trainee solicitor in the Pensions Group, authored a post on the role of AI in search engines for the Society for Computers and Law’s Trainee Blog.
Pro Bono and CSR
On 9 June 2026, Esther White and Dale Cornish joined around 30 Mayer Brown colleagues to take part in the London Legal Walk. Taking place every year, thousands of participants from law firms, chambers and legal advice organisations take one of three 10km routes through central London in support of the London Legal Support Trust. The charity funds free legal advice services across London and the South-East, helping those in need to access vital support.
Updates
The Pensions Group has been shortlisted in the “Team of the Year” category at the 2026 Pinnacle Awards for its work over the course of 2025, including advising the trustees of the Ford Hourly Paid and Salaried Contributory Pension Funds on the United Kingdom's largest pension risk transfer deal of 2025: two buy-ins with L&G totalling £4.6 billion.
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