Direct contribution pension schemes in UK asked to confirm compliance with charge controls

Chris Hamblin

10 June 2015

As a result of new legislative requirements introduced on 6 April, other new questions added to the scheme return will include one about the name of a scheme’s chair of trustees or managers.

The regulator has published a guide to what is new in this year’s scheme return and how to complete it in full. Direct contribution scheme returns will be issued to schemes in the coming months and the regulators are urging trustees, and those completing returns on behalf of trustees, to ensure that they have a full grasp of how the new requirements might be relevant to them. It is asking every direct contribution scheme (including those with 2 to 11 members) to say whether any of the employers that use the scheme have passed their automatic enrolment staging date and, if so, whether they have: (a) automatically enrolled any staff into the scheme to meet their automatic enrolment duties since 6 April 2015, or (b) used the scheme to meet their automatic enrolment duties for staff that were existing members of the scheme. Scheme trustees or managers have a legal obligation to complete the scheme return accurately and on time, on pain of a fine.

The regulator sends out requests to complete scheme returns no more frequently than once a year and no less frequently than once every three years. The benefit structure of a scheme determines when it asks for a scheme return, as outlined below.

Defined benefit and hybrid schemes: scheme returns requested annually, return notifications sent between the months of November to January each year
Defined contribution schemes with 12 or more members: scheme returns requested annually, return notifications sent between the months of May to December each year
Defined contribution schemes with less than 12 members: scheme returns requested once every three years, return notifications sent between the months of May to December each year.