`The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
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TPR attempted to impose a financial support direction on Granada (which is now ITV), for its part in the creation and eventual failure of the business, Box Clever, which went into administration in 2003. A decision by the Upper Tribunal in 2018 stated that TPR was right to do this and meant the regulator could ask ITV to devise a strategy for topping up the scheme’s funding. The case continued and there were questions surrounding how much financial support ITV should provide to the scheme. In 2020, there was a deficit of approximately £115 million. In March of that year, ITV was given a six-month deadline in which to fund the scheme. ITV offered to put £31 million toward the scheme in August 2020, stating it accepted that TPR could issue a warning notice if that amount wasn’t sufficient. In a trading update, published on 11 May 2022, ITV confirmed it had received a waring notice from TPR relating to the Box Clever pension scheme, equating to £133 million. ITV advised it would continue to work with TPR to resolve the matter. A TPR spokesperson commented: “The deadline we set ITV to provide reasonable financial support for the Box Clever pension scheme in response to the financial support directions issued to them passed on 17 September 2020. While they did submit an offer, we rejected it because we did not consider it provided reasonable support to the scheme. We have now issued a warning notice seeking contribution notices against ITV and four related entities. These contribution notices would see cash paid into the scheme to pay member benefits. We will not be commenting further on the matter at the moment.”
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The Pensions Regulator starts spot checks on employers suspected of failing pension duties Published: 19 May 2022 Emailed: 25 May 2022
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is cracking down on pension non-compliance.
With the removal of covid restrictions earlier this year, full scale inspections have returned to ensure employers are compliant. These spot-check inspections will take place on-site for any employer TPR chooses to inspect all over the UK. Alongside these inspections, TPR receives compliance information from a variety of sources including HMRC, pension schemes and individual whistleblowing reports. Employers who are found to be non-compliant will face financial consequences, and TPR may work with them to assist them with their duties.
Pension and auto-enrolment compliance is one of the most complex areas of payroll. If you would like to be an expert on this topic, you can sign up to the Automatic enrolment and pensions for payroll training course. You can sit the course online in any month, and the next one you can book is on 22 June 2022.
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DWP announces pension credit day of action Published: 13 June 2022 Emailed: 15 June 2022
This Wednesday (15 June 2022) will be the pension credit day of action. The focus of the day will be to encourage people who have reached state pension age, to check if they are eligible for pension credit.
The rising cost of living is causing financial difficulties for many people, and one of the most vulnerable groups is the older generation. The pension credit day of action is part of an awareness campaign to encourage and inform pensioners to access support they are entitled to. Pension credit is a benefit which is worth £1,900 on average, and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Guy Opperman MP has indicated that 770,000 eligible pensioners have failed to make claims.
The easiest way to check eligibility is using the pension credit calculator on the government website. Back to contents
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