UK Pensions: What’s new this week? - May 18, 2026

More detail from HMRC on inheritance tax changes

HMRC has published a technical note giving more detail on the upcoming changes to the application of inheritance tax (IHT) to pensions.

Key points include:

• Draft regulations covering requirements for information sharing between personal representatives (PRs) and pension scheme administrators (PSAs) will be shared for a short technical consultation this spring. The note sets out what HMRC expects to be in those regulations, including an outline of timescales within which PSAs will need to provide PRs with information.
• Draft guidance on the evidence schemes will need to obtain to prove the identity of a PR/prospective PR will also be published this spring. The note gives some detail on the evidence that may be required.
• The note gives some commentary on the meaning of being in employment, to determine whether benefits will be counted as a death in service benefit (which will be excluded from IHT).
• The note gives some detail on how HMRC envisages withholding notices (which will allow PRs/prospective PRs to require schemes to withhold up to 50% of an individual’s benefits for up to 15 months) will be used.
• Draft templates for withholding notices, and notices to require schemes to pay IHT directly, will also be shared this spring. The note gives some indication of what will be included in those and also includes deadlines for PSAs to confirm that a notice is valid and, in the case of withholding, to notify beneficiaries that they are in place.
• The note also includes some information on how the new system will apply to non-long term UK residents and pension schemes established outside of the UK.

Read the technical note.

Dashboards updates

The Q&A section of the Pension Dashboards Programme website has been updated to say that it is now expected that the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard will be available to the public in financial year 2027/28. A further update on launch plans will be provided later this year, around the time of the October 31 connection deadline. Separately, TPR has announced a regulatory initiative targeting 240 DB and hybrid schemes to assess the readiness and accuracy of value data, to help inform discussions around the precise timing of the “go live” date.

Read the Q&As (see Timelines section) and TPR’s press release.

TPR consultation on new corporate strategy

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is consulting on its draft Corporate Strategy for 2026 to 2031. The strategy sets out how TPR will navigate the next five years, in light of the pensions reform agenda under the Pension Schemes Act and the Pensions Commission report (expected in 2027). TPR reiterates its commitment to taking a more prudential approach to regulation, and to reducing unnecessary burdens on schemes and employers wherever it can.

The strategy highlights a number of challenges that TPR says must be “at the forefront of [its] regulatory work”. These include: schemes growing in size and complexity; trustees considering a broader range of investments; DB endgame planning; DC retirement outcomes; and uneven integration of climate and ESG considerations. It sets out targets for member and market outcomes and principles that will guide its approach.

Read the consultation.

TPR report on DC consolidation and economies of scale

TPR has published a report examining the emerging evidence as to benefits of scale arising from the consolidation of small defined contribution (DC) schemes into master trusts. The report pulls together analysis from various sources; among the findings are indications that total costs per member generally decrease as scheme size increases, but that evidence linking scheme size with gross investment returns is currently weak.

TPR concludes that “there is some evidence emerging of economies of scale benefits, but this is not unequivocal or guaranteed, therefore the market must remain alert and responsive to risks and opportunities.”

Read the report.