7 Days is a weekly round up of developments in pensions, normally published on Monday afternoons. We collate this information from key industry sources, such as the DWP, HMRC and TPR.

In this 7 Days

Government to introduce small pot consolidators

On 24 April 2025, the DWP confirmed plans to introduce small pot consolidators in the Pension Schemes Bill.  Under the reforms, an individual’s small pots would be brought together into a single “consolidator” scheme.

The announcement was issued alongside a report by the Small Pots Delivery Group.  The Group was set up to consider the policy design choices relating to the implementation of the multiple default consolidator solution.  Its recommendations include:

  • a “small pots data platform” to identify and source the pension pots that could be consolidated
  • a framework setting out the rules a scheme would need to follow to become a consolidator scheme. These include being an automatic enrolment qualifying scheme, having a specified level of scale to manage expansion, providing good value for money for their members and providing additional protection for members from flat fee charges
  • safeguards for savers whose pension pots would be consolidated, including a member opt-out option.

See our forthcoming hot topic for further details.

TPR blog on superfunds

Building on its experience from the first three transfers to superfunds, on 23 April 2025 TPR published a blog setting out some “top tips”, including:

  • trustees don’t need to obtain a buyout quote to determine whether buyout is affordable, an “objective estimate” from an experienced actuary will suffice
  • trustees need a “comprehensive rationale” for transferring, including the pros and cons and why the transfer is in members’ interests, along with supporting advice and evidence
  • TPR acknowledges that assessing whether a transfer will improve the likelihood of full benefits (TPR’s third “gateway test”) is a matter of judgement, so they don’t necessarily expect mathematical quantifications of likelihood.

Trustees who are “seriously considering” a transfer to a superfund are encouraged to contact TPR and all trustees should look out for its “forthcoming” DB endgame guidance, which “will explore the wider range of options” available on the market.

TPR to launch innovation hub

In a speech delivered on 24 April 2025, Patrick Coyne, Interim Director of Policy and Public Affairs, confirmed that TPR plans to launch a new innovation hub this summer.  It will “facilitate and test a range of innovation services” with the market.  TPR’s goal is to enable emerging models to come to market in a “slicker, quicker way” by introducing a step by step and transparent process for engaging with it.

As well as new models, TPR also wants to prioritise innovation in decumulation, particularly with the Government expected to introduce a new “guided retirement” duty in the forthcoming Pension Schemes Bill, under which trustees will be required to either offer or partner with a provider of decumulation services.

Most FCA-regulated pension providers well prepared for dashboards

The PDP has published a report and accompanying blog setting out the findings from its research exploring how FCA-regulated pension providers are preparing for dashboards.  Most respondents:

  • intend to connect before or by their “connect by” dates in the DWP’s connection guidance
  • are “very confident” in meeting the wider requirements (including matching criteria and providing value data) for connecting in line with their “connect by” date.

FCA-regulated pension providers of schemes with 5,000 or more relevant members have a “connect by” date of 30 April 2025, and those with under 5,000 relevant members have a “connect by” date of 31 January 2026.  The statutory deadline for connection for all trust and contract-based schemes is 31 October 2026.