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Welcome to our monthly update on current legal issues for trustees of DB and hybrid pension schemes, designed to help you stay up to date with key developments between trustee meetings and to support the legal update item on your next trustee agenda. We also have a separate DC-only briefing.
Autumn budget—pensions announcements NEW
The chancellor announced in her autumn Budget the introduction from April 6, 2029 of an annual cap of GBP2,000 on the amount of pension contributions that are exempt from National Insurance Contributions (NICs) through salary sacrifice. Draft legislation has been published on this.
The Budget also announced changes to earlier proposals to bring pensions into the scope of inheritance tax (updates to the previous draft legislation have been published) and that it will make changes to allow payments from scheme surpluses to be made directly to members from April 2027. Other changes included providing inflationary increases on pre-97 PPF compensation and allowing CDC schemes (see below) to be registered.
ACTION: Employers operating salary sacrifice may want to review these arrangements. Keep a watching brief on inheritance tax and surplus changes.
TPR: revised administration guidance NEW
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published new guidance outlining steps that trustees, scheme managers and administrators should take to comply with the administration module of its Code of Practice. The guidance applies to both DB and DC schemes, replacing a previous DC-only version.
It sets out more detailed requirements for schemes, including formal policies and prioritising data, stronger IT/automation/cyber focus, and tighter administrator engagement and oversight.
ACTION: Review the new guidance to identify further steps that could be taken to improve governance of scheme administration—schemes undertaking their own-risk assessment may wish to build some of these steps into their future plans.
TPR: revised data guidance
TPR has published revised guidance on member data. The guidance consolidates all previous data-related guidance into one place and is intended to set out clearer expectations (including best practice examples) to help schemes achieve better data management.
ACTION: Review the guidance and consider whether your scheme is complying with TPR's expectations.
CDC regulations and consultation
The government has published a consultation response, draft regulations and a new consultation on Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) arrangements (where investments are held in, and benefits paid from, a collective fund, providing an unguaranteed target annual income). The draft regulations allow unconnected employers to participate in a CDC arrangement. The new consultation looks at options to allow DC savers to transfer into a CDC scheme at retirement. This could provide a decumulation income option (in line with the forthcoming guided retirement framework).
ACTION: Consider whether CDC could be of interest to your scheme, in particular in light of upcoming guided retirement requirements.
Have your say
- The government has launched a consultation on trusteeship and governance, looking at various issues including trustee appointment and tenure; accreditation; professional trustees and how to improve administration. The deadline for responses is March 6, 2026.
- The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published a consultation on its 2026/27 levy. It intends to maintain a zero levy for conventional schemes, but this is dependent on there being "a very high level of confidence" that provisions in the Pension Schemes Bill relating to the levy will be passed. The consultation closes on January 5, 2026.
- The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is consulting on draft updated statutory guidance on investigations and enforcement under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The consultation closes on January 23, 2026.
Watch this space
- The pensions minister has announced that he intends to consult on legislation that will allow the government to develop statutory guidance for trustees on their fiduciary duties, intended to support trustees in considering factors including systemic risks (such as climate change) and members' standards of living.
- The Data (Use and Access) Act (DUA Act), which makes amendments to the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, has received Royal Assent. Changes include helpful tweaks to deadlines for responding to data subject access requests and new requirements around handling data protection complaints. Some regulations have been made bringing parts of the Dua Act into force, but further regulations setting out details and bringing the remainder of the Dua Act into force are awaited.
- The government has announced that it intends to consult in the coming months on issues around transfer advice, potentially including the cost and availability of independent financial advice and the GBP30,000 threshold that triggers a requirement for independent advice on a DB transfer.
- There is currently no date for revised regulations on changes to the notifiable events regime.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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