Pensions: what's new this week - May 13, 2024

HMRC: Pension schemes newsletter plus FAQs

HMRC’s most recent Pension Schemes Newsletter (no. 159) provides answers to further questions that have arisen about the treatment of benefits where an individual’s entitlement arose before April 6, 2024, but the benefits are paid after that date. It also confirms that various technical issues will be corrected in further regulations as soon as possible. A consolidated version of the FAQs relating to the abolition of the lifetime allowance is attached as an annex to the newsletter.

The newsletter also covers other issues, including completing event reports and pension scheme returns on the Managing Pension Schemes service.

Read the newsletter

Standards for pensions dashboards published 

The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has published updated data standards for pension dashboards, following industry consultation. The standards set out the data requirements for finding and viewing pensions information and will apply to the trustees or managers of occupational schemes and the managers of personal pension schemes connected to, or required to connect to, the dashboards ecosystem.

Other technical, reporting and design standards will follow, together with a code of connection comprising security, service and operational standards. All standards are subject to final approval by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

The PDP has also published a progress update report, providing commentary on various aspects of its preparation work and approach to user testing, together with links to a number of useful resources.

Read the data standards

Read the progress update report

TPR corporate plan 2024-2027

TPR has published its new corporate plan, setting out its plans and priorities for the next three years. Many themes are familiar, including driving DC value for money, encouraging the evolution of good quality consolidation vehicles, improving governance and ensuring good outcomes through retirement.

In 2024-25, TPR’s key areas of focus will be embedding the new regulatory funding regime for DB schemes, together with work on DC value for money, good governance (following the launch of the General Code) and administration (particularly improving systems and data quality ahead of the rollout of pensions dashboards).

Read the Corporate Plan