The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is hoping that its Single Code of Practice will be laid in parliament “towards the end of this year or the beginning of January”, according to TPR head of policy, Louise Davey.

Speaking at the Pensions Age Scotland Conference, Davey noted that while the code was in its “final stages” and essentially ready to be laid, it had been delayed by the recent government upheaval.

TPR’s Single Code of Practice was initially due to be laid in parliament this autumn.

When asked whether the regulator could give an update on the single code and whether it could be more precise than ‘soon’ on a date, Davey stated that she could not be completely precise on when it would be coming into force.

“We appreciate has been a delay on it,” Davey said. “I can’t be precise because we are dependent on parliamentary process for the code to be laid and, as we know, there’s been a bit of upheaval in that space recently and we need it to be signed off by the Pensions Minister and Secretary of State, so we rely on that for it to go ahead.

“It is in its final stages now, so it is essentially ready to be laid in parliament. We are hoping that it will be towards the end of this year or the beginning of January.

“That’s when we are hoping for but it’s not 100 per cent within our control, so I can’t give you an absolutely precise answer on that.”

During the session, Davey also touched on the regulator’s assessment of Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reports from the largest schemes and master trusts.

She said that TPR was aiming to reflect on what it had seen in the reports and feed back to the industry to provide a good steer for the next waves of schemes due to come through TCFD.

The regulator is also going to be conducting a regulatory initiative to look at schemes’ publications of Statements of Investment Principles and Implementation Statements, following the introduction of new requirements a couple of years ago.

“That will include scoping the design of what our engagement with schemes looks like when we are doing it at mass volume in relation to climate and TCFD reporting, so we can have a really good system for checking compliance that’s sufficient for both us and the industry,” Davey stated.

“You can expect to hear more from us on that.

“We are also undertaking a regulatory initiative to look at how the regulations that came into force last year for schemes with less than £100m in assets under management, how that is being implemented and what levels of compliance are like among that segment of the market,” Davey revealed.

“We’ll be kicking that off soon and it’s likely to run over a cycle of about three years, looking at different elements.

“As part of that initiative, we’ll be looking at how we can best engage with schemes and how best effect that we want to see from those schemes, as well as addressing the basic compliance issues at the same time.

“That’s something we’ll be kicking off hopefully in the next couple of months or so.”

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