Compass provides commentary and analysis of recent legislative and regulatory developments affecting pensions and employee benefits.
Compass provides commentary on and analysis of recent legislative and regulatory developments affecting pensions and employee benefits.
For a time over the summer, COVID-19 released its grip somewhat and there was a qualified return to normalcy in many areas.
As a result, government departments and public bodies resumed their activity.
For a start, we have the Pensions Dashboards Programme driving forward with consultations on the scope and data definitions that the planned online dashboards will use.
The Government is progressing legislation in Parliament that will compel pension schemes to link in with and supply data to the dashboards, so this is an important area to watch.
Pensions Minister Guy Opperman has warned that those who are not getting their data in order have ‘missed the boat’ and face future compliance costs as a consequence. This is a critical issue that should receive attention and we begin with that.
Our second article focuses on HM Treasury’s call for evidence on pensions tax relief administration.
At the last General Election the Conservative Party promised to conduct “a comprehensive review to look at how to fix” the issue of non-taxpayers receiving no tax relief incentive if they are in an occupational pension scheme that uses the main method of tax relief. There are no easy answers to this, though, and any reform could have important long-term implications for many schemes.
Our attention then turns to the Department for Work and Pensions’ major priority: taking action on climate risk. Proposals are being put forward to require the largest schemes and master trusts to report specifically on climate risk issues.
However, the Minister has also made it clear that “no pension scheme is too small to make a difference”.
Our fourth article focuses on the radical steps being taken by the Government to encourage consolidation in the defined contribution sector of the pensions market.
Elsewhere in Compass, we cover: