《2026年养老金计划法》

Virgin Media Remedy Stop Press! • The Act includes what has been colloquially referred to asthe “Virgin Media remedy”. The remedy applies to schemesin England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, andaddresses the situation where a scheme that was formerly The Pension Schemes Bill has received royal assent andis now the Pension Schemes Act 2026 (Act). While theAct covers a diverse variety of topics, it mainly constitutesa framework that grants powers to make regulations. The In this bulletin, we highlight some of the key measuresof the Act. Watch out for our more detailed publication • Broadly, the Act provides that certain types of amendmentscan be treated as having always been valid, provided certainconditions are met. Those conditions include obtainingwritten confirmation from the scheme actuary that it would Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) In August 2024, the government launched its pensionsinvestment review, which included the LGPS. Followingfurther consultation on LGPS measures, the governmentannounced that it would take forward measures in relation to • Certain types of amendment are excluded from theremedy;for example, where the trustees have alreadytreated theamendment as void, or where legal proceedingswere These measures are included in the Act, including thepower to make regulations to instruct a scheme manager toparticipate, or cease to participate, in a specific asset pool. • The remedy is now in force (effective from29 April 2026).Additional information will be contained in ourdetailed Release of Defined Benefit (DB) Surplus •The Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) was brought into law at atime when many defined benefit (DB) schemes were indeficit. The PA04 introduced a requirement for trusteesof DB schemes to pass a resolution before April 2011 •The Act introduces a statutory power to allow trustees tomodify scheme rules to permit surplus extraction. The useof the power is at the discretion of the trustees. There is no •Amendments are made to remove restrictive provisions ofthe PA04 and Pensions Act 1995 (PA95). •The new power cannot be used if the scheme is alreadybeing wound up, nor can the trustees pass a resolution •Further detail will be set out in draft regulations that will be •Regulations are expected to be in place during the courseof 2027, along with guidance from The Pensions Regulator Superfunds The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) Current legislation provides that where there is any disputeas to the amount to be recouped from a beneficiary followingthe overpayment of pension, pension trustees must obtainan enforcement order from a “competent court” before theycan offset the overpayment against future pension payments.Case law has determined that TPO does not constitute •The Act sets out a framework for the authorisation andregulation of DB commercial consolidators, referred to as •TPR’s approval will be required before a transfer maybe made to a superfund. Regulations will set out theconditions for approval. Regulations will also contain detailsof the capital buffer that a superfund must maintain, along •The Act makes it a criminal offence to make or receive atransfer to a superfund that has not been approved by TPR. Value for Money •Regulations, along with new TPR guidance, are expected to •The Act gives wide regulation-making powers to thesecretary of state to implement a new value for money Pension Protection Fund (PPF) andFinancial Assistance Scheme (FAS) •Regulations will include which schemes and arrangementsare in scope, and new duties for trustees to carry outVFM assessments, to assign a rating, to make certaininformation public, and to give notifications to TPR and otherprescribed persons. Regulations will contain more details •As at 31 March 2025, the PPF had assets undermanagement of £31 billion and liabilities of £17 billion,resulting in reserves of £14 billion. This has prompted the •The Act introduces indexation of PPF and FAScompensation in relation to pre-1997 accrual where ascheme’s rules provided for indexation or where it is unclearwhether a scheme’s rules provided for this. The indexation •The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) consultation (issued8 January 2026) proposed that VFM requirements wouldinitially apply to the default arrangements of schemes usedfor auto-enrolment (and the quasi-default arrangementsof schemes established before auto-enrolment). The •Current legislation prevents the PPF from increasing thePPF levy amount year on year by more than 25%, which hasrestricted the amount by which the PPF has considered itprudent to reduce the levy in case of a need to significantlyraise the levy in future years. In particular, the PPF could •Regulations are expected in 2026/27, with the first VFMassessments due in 2028. This is a very challenging •The Act also amends existing legislation to providethat administration and other costs of the PPF and PPFOmbudsman will be met out of PPF funds, instead of out of Consolidation of Small