UK Pensions: What's new this week? August 4, 2025

TPR blog post on managing systemic risks

The latest blog post from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) highlights the importance of managing systemic risks, including climate change, nature loss and broader ESG factors, as "a core part" of effective scheme governance and trustees’ fiduciary responsibilities. TPR encourages schemes to use the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) resources to inform their thinking. The blog post includes questions trustees should ask themselves to help assess how well equipped they are in this area. TPR urges trustees to engage with the recent consultation on mandating transition plans and asks for input for its transition planning industry group.

Read the blog post.

Data (Use and Access) Act: commencement regulations

Regulations have been made bringing certain parts of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 into force with effect from August 20, 2025. Provisions potentially relevant to pension schemes include changes relating to processing of special categories of data and modifications to court procedures dealing with data subject access requests. Regulations setting out further details and bringing other parts of the act into force are awaited.

Read the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2025.

HMRC: latest pension scheme newsletter

HMRC has published its latest newsletter (no. 171). The newsletter relays last week’s announcements in relation to bringing pensions within the scope of inheritance tax. It also covers: HMRC’s new service for checking whether a member has a lifetime allowance protection or enhancement; the process for outstanding 2024/25 annual returns and declarations; and a reminder that schemes must now migrate to the Managing Pension Schemes Service.

Read the newsletter.