The Pensions Regulator

Scheme Returns to be issued to 8,000 occupational schemes

Ref: PN05-18
17 June 2005

The Pensions Regulator is to send 8,000 occupational pension schemes a scheme return form later this month, bringing a requirement under the Pensions Act 2004 into force.

The Act requires that all schemes provide a regular return of information to the Pensions Regulator, which will use this information proactively to identify schemes where there is a risk, or potential risk, to members' benefits.

The 'scheme return' is designed to provide the regulator with more accurate information about the schemes it regulates and will collect basic information including: scheme type and status, membership, details about trustees and their advisers, financial information about the scheme, and details about participating employers.

Pension Scheme trustees will have approximately eight weeks in which to complete the scheme return and send it back to the regulator.

The scheme return will be marked for the attention of the scheme trustee(s) and sent to the scheme address. It is the responsibility of the trustee(s) to ensure that it is completed and returned to the regulator by the date shown in the letter (scheme return notice) that will accompany the scheme return. A guidance leaflet will also be provided with the scheme return and gives more information about the scheme return, contact details for any questions, and a glossary to explain the terms that have been used.

The first batch of scheme returns is being issued at the end of June 2005 to approximately 8,000 pension schemes. These will be made up of defined benefit schemes with five or more members and a small number of defined contribution schemes with five or more members.

Trustees will have until the end of August 2005 to send the completed scheme return back to the regulator. However, it is recommended that completion of the form be started as soon as it is received to ensure that all required data is available.

A second batch of scheme returns is planned for issue later this year. This will mainly target defined benefit schemes with two to four members but will also include a small number of defined contribution schemes.

At the beginning of 2005, the regulator performed a pilot scheme return exercise. We contacted a number of schemes and asked the trustees or administrators to complete the scheme return with information about their schemes. The results highlighted various areas that required further development and these have been incorporated into the current scheme return.

For further information on the scheme return process, please view our website at: www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk, click on Information for Trustees, follow the Guidance for Trustees link to Keeping the Pensions Regulator Informed, and click on Providing information for the Register and the scheme return.

Editor's notes

1. The Pensions Act 2004 gives the Pensions Regulator new powers to enable it take a risk-focussed approach to regulation. One of its powers is in the area of gathering information about schemes, so as to highlight where there may potentially be problems within a scheme.
2. The scheme return is one such information-gathering tool. It gathers information from occupational pension schemes relating to matters such as scheme status, type, membership, funding and investment. This information will enable the regulator to analyse trends and risks across occupational pension schemes.
3. The scheme return will also enable the regulator to maintain an accurate database of pension scheme information, which will act as a central source of information for other agencies interested in pension schemes in the UK, such as the Pension Protection Fund and the pension tracing service, which is now provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.
4. The scheme return will provide pension scheme trustees with a simple and effective way to keep the regulator informed about changes to their scheme details, such as a change in the number of members on which their levy payment is based. It will also enable the regulator to provide scheme trustees with a much more efficient and tailored service when for example, they request information and guidance in relation to their scheme.
5. The Pensions Regulator has been established as the new regulator of work-based pensions in the UK, with wider and more flexible powers under the Pensions Act 2004. It has replaced Opra which no longer exists.
6. The new powers of the Pensions Regulator include the ability to:
7. • collect more detailed scheme information;
   • impose a statutory obligation on 'whistleblowers' to report suspected breaches of the legislation to the regulator;
   • issue improvement notices and third party notices, enabling the regulator to ensure problems are put right;
   • freeze a scheme that is at risk, while the regulator investigates; and
   • prohibit trustees who are judged not fit and proper to carry out their duties.