PENSIONS REGULATOR SURVEY SHOWS MANY SCHEMES NOT KEEPING THE REQUIRED RECORDS
29 July 2013
The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) annual record-keeping survey shows there is a lack of awareness of data obligations amongst smaller schemes.
Maintaining accurate records is crucial to the effective administration of pension schemes. TPR previously set targets for schemes to meet certain 'common' data standards by the end of 2012. 'Common' data includes name, date of birth, National Insurance number and other basic member information.
Schemes also need to ensure that their ‘conditional data’ is correct and complete. This is additional information required to accurately calculate benefits.
TPR’s recent survey has revealed that many schemes are still falling short of achieving the standards set, despite steady improvements in some areas. It shows that the majority of large and medium trust-based schemes measure common data, and over half meet the overall target. But measuring conditional data is less prevalent, with 29% of large schemes saying that it was not a priority and half of trust-based schemes unaware of the requirement to do so.
1.7 MILLION LOSE OUT ON AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT DUE TO THRESHOLDS SET TOO HIGH
1 August 2013
The TUC have issued a press release following the recent publication of a report of Commentary and Analysis of Automatic Enrolment from the Pensions Regulator.
The report automatic enrolment commentary and analysis is the first report on the impact of automatic enrolment and its role in increasing participation in workplace pension schemes. It focuses on the implementation and operation of automatic enrolment during the 2012 - 2013 financial year. It's based on information provided by employers when they complete the registration process and includes additional analysis and commentary, as well as trends that have started to emerge in 2013 - 2014.
The Pensions Regulator plans to publish the next wave of the employers' awareness, understanding and activity relating to workplace pensions reforms on 20 August 2013.
However, the TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:
'Automatic enrolment is proving a big success, but it does not apply to low-paid workers. This government has consistently raised the size of the wage packet that triggers auto-enrolment, with the inevitable result - that the Pensions Regulator confirms today - that many women have been left out of what should be a pensions revolution.
'Ministers were wrong to link the earnings trigger to the income tax personal allowance, as this means that every time it goes up more women lose out on a pension.'
OPT-OUT RATE 9 PER CENT FOR FIRST 6 MONTHS OF AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT
8 August 2013
Research conducted with large employers has shown that across all the public and private sector employers in the study, the average opt out rate was 9 per cent.
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 382 of 519
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