The Pensions Regulator (the Regulator) has begun to exercise its supervisory powers over the public service pension schemes. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (PSPA) gave the Regulator a supervisory role in relation to the public service pension schemes and the Regulator has just published the results of its research into their governance and administration.
The Regulator's findings are that, whilst most of the respondents to its research have made progress in the areas of governance and administration, only just over a quarter of schemes are addressing key issues to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the PSPA.
On the positive side, some 90 per cent of schemes have made progress in establishing a pensions board.
Less than half of the schemes have compared their scheme against the practical guidance and standards published by the Regulator in its code of practice for public service schemes or against the requirements of the record-keeping regulations.
These findings will not come as a major surprise to those who deal regularly with the public service pension schemes and follow on the heels of the review of risks and governance issued by the Government Actuary's Department in November.
It is, though, encouraging that progress is being made, albeit slow progress. The public service schemes are very large and often complex schemes which take a significant amount of administration; changing administration and governance procedures will be like turning the proverbial super-tanker and will take time.
This research will provide both the Regulator and the schemes with the information they need to determine how and where their priorities will need to be focussed and, when the Regulator revisits the schemes in the spring of 2016, we may see more (and more rapid) progress towards where the schemes need to be under the PSPA.
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