The Association of Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT) has urged The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to update the trustee toolkit with “urgency” amid concerns that it is becoming “very out of date”.

AMNT argued that the current rules governing time off are inadequate, with discussions with members highlighting the "real world issues" preventing some trustees from operating at the level that they would prefer.

In light of these concerns, the association outlined a number of recommendations, including suggesting that lay trustees should be given a statutory right to a specific minimum number or formula of days away from their day job, and if necessary, reduction of their workload, to enable them to carry out their trustee duties, training and preparation effectively.

It also suggested that every pension scheme should be required to send TPR the toolkit completion certificate for every trustee.

The AMNT also said that TPR should update the toolkit as it is becoming very out of date, noting for instance, that someone completing the toolkit might wrongly assume that the regulator does not consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues or climate change as important.

The report also recommended that pension schemes and scheme sponsors be compelled to support and encourage trustee training and pay for recognised examinations, and fees for training.

In addition to this, the AMNT recommended that every pension scheme should have at least one accredited trustee on the board, either lay or professional, with the survey of its members revealing "substantial support" for these proposals.

However, there was "overwhelming opposition" to TPRs previous proposal to require every trustee board to employ a professional trustee, with specific concerns raised around the potential "burdensome and impractical expense" for smaller schemes.

The report also revealed mixed views on remuneration for lay trustees, although there was some support for linking it to attaining the desired knowledge and understanding, such as accreditation.

Although the AMNT acknowledged that some elements of these proposals may require more resources on the part of TPR, it argued that the need to dedicate some TPR resources to raising the quality of trusteeship is not any reason to reject these proposals and "certainly no reason to leave lay trustees to wither on the vine and move to professional trusteeship".

AMNT founding co-chair and report author, Janice Turner, stated: “Member-nominated trustees (MNTs) remain as important now as they were in 1995 when, in the wake of the Maxwell scandal, the government brought in legislation requiring them to constitute a third of trustee boards of company pension schemes.

“It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Downgrading the role of member nominated trustees, whose only interest is the best outcome for members, would seem to be a retrograde and potentially harmful step.

"Additionally, if every board is required to employ a professional’ trustee we may see an increase in costs, a lessening of diversity allowing more opportunity for ‘group think’ to creep in, and the loss of years of knowledge and real-world experience that MNTs bring to the table”.

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