Pensions - Articles - NAPF comment on Regulator's code of practice change

 The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) today (Fri) commented on The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) response to its Maintaining Contributions consultation.

 The revised Code of Practice on pension contributions aims to support automatic enrolment by helping to ensure that members of workplace pensions receive the pension contributions they are due.

 Darren Philp, Policy Director, NAPF, said:

 “Pension funds welcome The Pensions Regulator’s revisions and new guidance to help employers meet their duties under auto-enrolment. These proposals raised some eyebrows when they were first published last year, but the latest changes are a move in the right direction.

 “Ultimately, it is the employer’s duty to pay the right contributions to pension schemes and it is good that The Pensions Regulator recognises this explicitly.

 “Additionally, we welcome the greater detail on how trustees can spot payment failures, and how regulators will respond to reports of failures. The Pensions Regulator rightly recognises that payment failures are a greater risk for some schemes than others, so it is important that trustees are able to focus on the risks relevant to their scheme.

 “The Code will still shift some responsibility for checking contributions onto trustees and scheme managers, but the revisions go some way to ensuring that the extra burdens will not be excessive.”