Regulator publishes public-sector pension scheme administration checklists

The Pensions Regulator will be responsible for setting standards of governance and administration in public-sector pension schemes from April 2015, and will have extended regulatory oversight of such schemes following an expansion in its role by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (see Legal update, Public Service Pensions Bill receives Royal Assent).

As part of its extended role, the Regulator has published a series of checklists to assist those administering such schemes in assessing the effectiveness of their procedures. The checklists cover internal dispute resolution procedures, how effectively a scheme manages its contributions and evaluating the scheme's internal controls. They set out the key elements of each area of administration, contain basic guidance and allow schemes to record their compliance.

The new public-sector pension schemes will come into effect from 1 April 2015. You can follow the development of the new schemes in our Public-sector pensions reform tracker.

Sources: The Pensions Regulator: Internal dispute resolution checklist, Managing contributions checklist and Internal controls checklist (November 2014).