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

In this 7 Days

HMRC publishes pension schemes newsletter 181

On 28 May 2026, HMRC published its pension schemes newsletter 181. This notifies schemes of the withdrawal of the pension schemes online service, which will no longer be available from April 2027. All open pension schemes are asked to complete their migration to the managing pension schemes service by 31 December 2026 to minimise disruption to scheme administration.

The newsletter also includes a reminder about the forthcoming IHT changes and ongoing technical consultation on draft information sharing regulations. HMRC expects to provide more guidance and support about the tax change in future newsletters.

PPI publishes report on potential scale of DB surplus extraction

On 27 May 2026, the PPI published a report, “Unlocking DB surpluses: Balancing risks and rewards”, which looks at the anticipated scale of surplus extraction from private DB schemes. It examines the drivers of the rise of surplus, the evolving legislative framework including the surplus measures under the Pension Schemes Act 2026, and the range of considerations facing trustees, sponsors and policymakers.

The key findings include:

  • the amount of surplus that could realistically be released may be smaller than headline estimates suggest
  • funding positions differ significantly depending on how liabilities are measured
  • the sustainability of surpluses depends on funding resilience and investment risk, and
  • surpluses have been driven by economic conditions alongside scheme-level decisions.

Pensions UK appoints new Chair

Jamie Fiveash has been appointed as the new chair of Pensions UK, succeeding Emma Douglas who begins her new post as the Chair of TPR on 1 July 2026.