'Further to go' on auto enrolment; TPR 'not complacent'

The Pensions Regulator has said that there is still more work to be done around auto-enrolment (AE), confirming plans for a new campaign warning employers that it will take action if it spots non-compliance.

In a blog post, TPR director of automatic enforcement, Mel Charles said that while it is right that the industry pause to celebrate the progress made since the start of AE a decade ago, the regulator is "not complacent".

He continued: "We want to see employers continue to meet their duties and more savers getting to know their pensions.

"Looking ahead we also want to see more savers get to know their pensions. We support the introduction of the engagement season and the new pay your pension some attention campaign which brings pension providers, government and key stakeholders together to deliver vital information to savers to help them understand and engage with their pensions.

"We also look forward to the launch of pensions dashboards which is a crucial step towards helping savers to get to know their pensions, make good decisions and plan for the retirement they want.

"Trustees should be taking action now to ensure they meet their connection deadline and consult our guidance which sets out the steps they need to take to comply with their pensions dashboards duties."

Charles argued that "employers also have more to do", highlighting recent research that revealed a number of common errors made by employers in respect of calculating pensions contributions and communications to staff.

"In line with our risk-based approach, we will continue to use our enforcement powers where employers fail to meet their duties," he added.

"We monitor employers of all sizes to make sure staff get the pensions they are entitled to, and we’ll shortly be launching a new campaign warning employers that we spot non-compliance and will take action where appropriate, to protect savers."

Charles also shared an update on the enforcement action taken by TPR, confirming that, since the start of the AE roll out, TPR has processed 3.2m declarations and redeclarations of compliance.

TPR has also sent out 12.8m letters, handled 1.8m customer enquiries and worked on 730k enforcement cases, with this enforcement activity leading to more than £500m late or missing pensions contributions being paid into schemes.

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