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

TPR publishes regulatory intervention report

On 28 July 2026, TPR published a regulatory intervention report setting out how it exercised its anti-avoidance powers after a participating employer in a multi-employer industry wide DB scheme took “a series of steps to avoid its section 75 debt”, including paying out dividends prior to the company’s liquidation. TPR launched an investigation culminating in a warning notice seeking contribution notices against the company and connected parties. A settlement was reached with the relevant parties and funds have now been paid into the scheme.

HMRC publishes pension schemes newsletter 183

On 30 July 2026, HMRC published pension schemes newsletter 183. This contains an update on the forthcoming IHT changes following the IHT information-sharing regulations being laid before Parliament. Regulations to make some further consequential amendments to tax legislation are due to be published later this year. HMRC plans to publish a new technical note later this summer which will include information on withholding and payment notices, scenarios to illustrate the new IHT process and answers to common queries.

The newsletter also notes that, with effect from 20 July 2026, HMRC’s enquiry email address has been replaced with an online interactive guidance tool.

PDP guidance on interim manual reporting for directly connected organisations

PDP has published guidance to support industry understanding of how to report manually to MaPS against the pensions dashboards reporting standards for any directly connected organisations that have not yet been able to implement daily reporting via API. The manual process will apply on an interim basis until organisations have set up daily reporting. The guidance confirms the requirements and explains what data should be provided and how.

SPP publishes guide to governance in the age of AI

On 29 July 2026, the SPP published a practical framework aimed at guiding pension scheme trustees, advisers and administrators in navigating their use of AI, as it moves from “an emerging technology to an everyday reality across the pensions industry”. The paper discusses the key questions trustees should ask, the controls they should expect to see and the governance arrangements that “should underpin responsible AI adoption across the pensions ecosystem”. Contributors include Sackers’ Hannah Savill.

PPI publishes report on pension savings for older renters

On 29 July 2026, the PPI published a report exploring how private pension savings interact with housing benefit entitlement for older renters, with the number of renters in retirement likely to increase in future. The report discusses where the interaction between pension saving and means-tested support is most significant and considers how potential changes to housing benefit rules could affect retirement outcomes and incentives to save.

Pension providers exploring new UK “scale-up fund”

On 27 July 2026, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade announced that a consortium of some of the UK’s largest pension providers have committed to exploring “the establishment of a first-of-its-kind vehicle dedicated to investing in scaling UK businesses”. This aims to support economic growth “while helping pension savers benefit from larger retirement pots and stronger local economies”. The British Business Bank is working alongside the pension providers to support the launch of the fund, with the intention of investing in partnership with the group.