Pensions Minister, Laura Trott, has said that the government is looking to provide an update on the Defined Benefit (DB) Funding Code Regulations in the “autumn”, stressing the need to get both this and The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) General Code out “as quickly as possible”.

The Work and Pensions Committee recently urged the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and TPR to “halt” their existing plans for a new DB funding regime, raising concerns that the proposed approach is not sufficient to allow open schemes to thrive.

The Pensions Minister previously confirmed that the DWP would look to consider the committee's recommendations before publishing the updated regulations, reiterating this at the latest WPC session.

When asked whether she had plans for any changes to the regime for open DB schemes, Trott stated: “We received your recommendations, for which I am very grateful. It was a very thoughtful report that we need to take the time to look at in detail.

"I have seen that you have had some comments relating to the funding code, which I need to consider alongside the code. I will do that and then come back in due course.”

When pressed on the potential timings for this work, Trott said that she “hope[s] to do it in the autumn”, adding: “I think it is important that we get this out, along with the General Code, as quickly as possible, but as ever, it is important that we consider the findings of the committee and that we take the time to do that properly.”

This is also in line with the latest timescales shared by TPR, as the regulator recently suggested that further updates on the code, including the draft statement of strategy and covenant guidance, could be expected in "autumn".

Both the General Code and DB Funding Code have faced a number of delays, with the General Code expected to be launched in 'spring' 2023, whilst the launch of the new DB Funding Code was recently pushed from October 2023 to April 2024.

Despite industry hopes of an imminent update, Trott confirmed later in the committee session that, aside from plans on housing benefit data and pension credit, there is unlikely to be any further pensions updates from the DWP ahead of the summer recess.

Asked whether she anticipates making any further announcements before summer following the recent Mansion House reforms, she said: “I think I'm going to give myself a small amount of a break before recess, although we are going to do some very good pilots or pension credit and housing benefit data that we talked about before... I think that's all I can fit in before recess."

Despite this, Trott noted that there is still work underway to address industry issues, with a number of consultations running across the summer, including work to address small pots, a call for evidence on DB options, and plans for a value for money framework.

Work to progress dashboards will also continue, as the committee heard from DWP former chief digital and information officer, Simon McKinnon, about work to address dashboards resources over the summer.

He stated: “We need to fill the team. It has gaps in it at the moment, so we are currently doing a detailed plan that will come up with a resource model by the end of the summer and that will determine what additional resources it needs."

Adding to this, Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) principal, Chris Curry, confirmed that the programme will be running a "listening exercise" with industry over the summer to identify areas where they think collaboration would be important and the best way to manage that collaboration going forward.

The committee also heard how the guidance-based timeline for pensions dashboards will be enforced, after industry experts previously raised concerns that the new approach could result in a 2026 capacity crunch.

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