The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on improving the standards of pension scheme trusteeship, governance and administration.

The consultation, which closes on 5 March 2026, aims to ensure trustees have the standards and skills needed to deliver a modern pensions system that works harder for savers and supports UK economic growth.

The DWP said that, as the pensions landscape rapidly evolves trusteeship, governance and administration standards must keep pace.

The consultation therefore aims to bring all schemes up to the required standard and proposes a number of new measures designed to raise standards for all trustees, as well as ways pension scheme administration standards can be improved for the benefit of savers.

This includes proposals intended to increase the knowledge and understanding requirements for trustees, with centrally set standards and accreditation for professionals and measures to improve the diversity of trust boards.

In particular, the consultation outlined plans to increase the requirements needed to be a professional trustee.

"We would like to explore whether government and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) should introduce higher requirements for professional trustees and set out on a statutory basis the standards they wish accredited trustees to meet and allow the industry to deliver those standards rather than the current system, which allows the industry to self-regulate and decide what those standards should be," the consultation stated.

As part of this, it is proposing plans to introduce higher requirements for professional trustees in addition to the knowledge and understanding requirements which all trustees must meet.

However, the government clarified that it does not want to risk discouraging lay or independent trustees who could add value and diversity to a trustee board by imposing the same requirements on them.

This consultation additionally asks about how the DWP can ensure appropriate standards for pension scheme administrators are in place and enforced.

Commenting in the foreword, Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, said: The pensions landscape is changing. The transition from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) is well underway.

"The DC market itself is transitioning to a more mature structure, characterised by bigger schemes. Change is also being accelerated by the Pension Schemes Bill currently before parliament.

"Amidst this change, one thing remains constant: the importance of good governance, with schemes overseen by trustees that have not only the skills and knowledge to navigate the changes to come, but also members best interests consistently front of mind.

"This consultation takes stock of our trustee and pension administration landscape. It invites views on the issues confronting trustees amidst these transitions and where changes might be valuable. I look forward to hearing from trustees themselves, but also scheme members, managers and administrators."

---