The Association of Member-directed Pension Schemes (AMPS) has called on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to announce a timetable for the general levy consultation.

It said that small self-administered scheme (SSAS) administrators and advisers were being kept in the dark on if and when proposed changes would be made.

The association warned that the lack of clarity over the consultation timetable was having “real world consequences", with business owners pausing decisions on setting up a SSAS, which was affecting the SSAS administration sector’s growth.

The general levy consultation, which asked for views on proposed changes to the structure and rates of the levy, closed on 13 November.

It is aiming to mitigate the ongoing deficit in levy funding over the next three years.

Three options were outlined in the consultation: Continue with the current levy rates and structure, retain the structure but increase rates by 6.5 per cent a year, or increase rates by 4 per cent a year and signal an additional premium rate for schemes with up to 10,000 members from 2026.

AMPS chair, Andrew Phipps, said that the association's members had expressed strong opposition to the proposal to increase the levy rates for smaller schemes, potentially including SSASs, by an additional £10,000 from 2026.

“This would be unfair and disproportionate to the small schemes sector and would discourage the use of SSAS as a flexible and cost-effective pension vehicle for business owners and entrepreneurs,” he continued.

“This consultation is having real world consequences for our members and their clients. There has been no timetable agreed and many of our members are seeing clients so concerned at the potential levy being applied to a SSAS that they are pausing the setting up of the pension, or looking to move the pension away from a SSAS which could have a material effect on the sector.

“We continue to urge the DWP to reconsider its approach and to engage with the industry to provide clarity and find a more reasonable and sustainable solution.”

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