The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has confirmed that it has put the 2025/26 levy invoicing on hold, leaving the door open for the PPF to move to a zero levy for conventional schemes for 2025/26. 

The lifeboat previously announced that it had more than halved its levy estimate for 2025/26 to £45m, although it implied at the time that it could charge no conventional levy if appropriate legislative changes were brought forward, and sufficiently progressed.

In anticipation of this, the levy rules include a provision for the PPF board to calculate a zero conventional levy if this happened.

And progress has been seen since, as the government confirmed that it is considering giving the PPF greater flexibility to reduce the levy it collects from pension schemes by relaxing restrictions, with plans to include this as part of the Pension Schemes Bill.

The inclusion of provisions on the PPF levy in the bill, which recently underwent its second reading in the House of Commons and is due to be debated in parliament further over the autumn, was highlighted as a "significant and welcome" development by the PPF.

The group has since confirmed that it is putting the 2025/26 levy invoicing on hold, sending out communications to with levy payers last week (31 July) to confirm this.

In the email, the PPF explained that it is continuing to monitor the progress of the Pension Schemes Bill before making a final decision on the 2025/26 levy.

To enable this, mean scores will be published as normal in due course, but the PPF is putting invoicing on hold until it has concluded our decision-making.

"Doing so maintains the possibility of moving to a zero levy for conventional schemes for 2025/26," the lifeboat explained, confirming that it will aim to provide a further update this autumn.

But despite the progress seen in changing the PPF's operational levy, industry experts have argued that the government should also take advantage of the Pension Schemes Bill to abolish the PPF administration levy and permit the PPF to cover its operating costs through its own fund and “substantial” surplus.

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