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

Pensions Commission revived

On 21 July 2025, the Government revived the Pensions Commission to consider the long-term future of the pensions system to “make today’s workers better off in retirement”. Building on the recent Pensions Investment Review, the Commission will explore:

  • outcomes and risks for future cohorts of pensioners
  • how to improve retirement outcomes, particularly for those on the lowest incomes and at the “greatest risk of poverty or undersaving”
  • the role of private pension provision and wider savings in delivering financial security in retirement and supporting those approaching retirement
  • the long-term challenges of supporting an ageing population, and
  • proposals for change beyond the current Parliament, to deliver financial security in retirement through a pensions framework that is “strong, fair and sustainable”.

The Commission is expected to submit its final report to the Government in 2027.

Alongside the Commission’s terms of reference, the Government issued a policy paper setting out the challenges facing current and future pensioners, the results of a survey on how people are preparing for retirement and analysis exploring current levels of “undersaving” for retirement.

The Government has also launched its next state pension age review.

TPR corporate plan and annual report and accounts   

TPR published its latest corporate plan and annual report and accounts on 17 July 2025. The corporate plan sets out how TPR is “helping to prepare” the pensions industry for the impact of the new Pension Schemes Bill, including:

  • developing a new strategy for raising the standards of trusteeship, which will help inform its compliance and oversight approach to the market
  • working jointly with the FCA on the VFM framework, and
  • continuing to challenge small schemes to undertake a detailed VfM assessment.

The annual report and accounts show that TPR met, or almost met, 30 out of 31 of its key performance indicators for 2024 to 2025. It did not meet the KPI to address cyber risks and pensions technology in the pensions sector but is “working with experts” to understand the risks to savers posed by cyber attacks, which should help to improve its performance rating.

TPO annual report and accounts  

On 17 July 2025, TPO published its annual report and accounts for 2024/25. TPO closed “more cases than ever before”, representing a 42% increase compared to the previous year. At the same time, TPO experienced a significant rise in demand for its services, which increased by 39% compared to 2023/24.

HMT Targeted support policy note and draft Order

HMT published a policy note and draft Order on 15 July 2025 to enable the implementation of targeted support. The Order will create a new specified activity of providing targeted support and ensure that where an authorised firm provides targeted support it is not advising on investments. Any comments on the draft Order should be provided by 29 August 2025.

PDP guidance on voluntary connection

PDP issued guidance on 17 July 2025 on how to voluntarily connect to the dashboards ecosystem. Schemes applying to connect voluntarily must have regard to the guidance. If a scheme application for voluntary connection is granted, it will be subject to the same legislative framework as schemes required to connect.

Government consultation on FOS

On 15 July 2025, the Government published a consultation on reviewing and reforming the FOS framework. The review is driven by evolving market conditions, digitisation and consumer feedback which has “exposed inconsistencies in the current system”. The consultation proposes a package of reforms designed to ensure FOS is delivering its role as a “simple, impartial dispute resolution service”. The consultation closes on 8 October 2025.

TPR fine for master trust

TPR announced on 18 July 2025 that it has fined a master trust scheme funder and strategist and its trustee, £50,000 each for failing to correctly report significant events and breaches of law to TPR. They had failed to issue more than 80,000 statutory communications informing members and potential members of their rights under auto-enrolment legislation and did not notify TPR of this failure “as soon as reasonably practicable”.

TPR also published a Regulatory Intervention Report reminding schemes to engage with it proactively and effectively when reporting issues.