Sections

The Pensions Regulator

Regulatory guidance

Regulatory guidance

Guidance for trustees

Administrative procedures

Good scheme administration is vital to the proper running of a pension scheme. The trustees are ultimately responsible for the scheme administration and you should actively monitor the quality and effectiveness of the scheme's procedures.

Trustees must establish, operate and maintain adequate internal control mechanisms for the purpose of monitoring that the scheme is being effectively administered and managed in the interests of the members and beneficiaries under the scheme rules.

This section of the guidance explains the principal aspects of scheme administration that, as a trustee, you must be aware of:

Our code of practice - Internal controls - gives practical guidelines about putting into place, maintaining and operating internal controls for your scheme.

See also the Trustee toolkit - in particular the module covering 'Running Your Scheme'.

Taking decisions about the scheme

Following the trust deed and rules

The trust deed and rules may tell trustees how to manage the scheme, including matters such as how to make decisions. For example, if the scheme documents say that decisions must be made in a trustees' meeting and agreed by at least two-thirds of trustees, you must keep to this rule.

Agreeing your own decision-making procedures

If these matters are not set out in the scheme documents, you can usually agree your own working methods. Pensions legislation provides that:

  • If the trust deed and rules do not give details on how decisions should be taken, they may be made by a majority of the trustees. The 'majority' is a majority of all the trustees, not just those at the meeting.
  • You can also decide the minimum number of trustees who must be present (the 'quorum') in order to make the business carried out at a meeting valid.

Other provisions of the pensions legislation

Pensions legislation also provides that:

  • If a decision may be taken, all trustees must be given notice of the occasion (which will usually be a trustee meeting) stating the date, time and place, no later than 10 business days beforehand unless the trustees agree other arrangements.
  • If a decision has to be taken urgently, you do not have to give formal notice.
  • Any decisions made between meetings must be included in the minutes of the next trustee meeting.

Keeping records and holding original documents

You must keep proper records for running the scheme effectively. These include records of your trustee meetings, and records about scheme members and transactions.

Records of meetings

You must keep written records of your trustees' meetings, showing the:

  • date, time and place of the meeting;
  • names of the trustees invited;
  • names of the trustees (and others, such as scheme advisers) who were at the meeting;
  • names of the trustees who were not at the meeting;
  • decisions made; and
  • date, time and place of any decisions made since the last meeting, including urgent decisions, and the names of the trustees who took part.

Records about members and transactions

You must also make sure that you keep proper written records about scheme members and transactions so that you pay out the right benefits at the right time. You need clear and accurate details of transactions to and from the scheme and up-to-date information about its past and present members.

You also need this information to be able to satisfy your other duties as a trustee – for example, to be able to account to HM Revenue and Customs for any tax due or deducted from benefits paid, to obtain an auditor's statement and to prepare your annual report. 

The records you need to keep include:

  • the date each member joined the scheme;
  • details of the contributions received;
  • all payments to and from the scheme; and
  • details of transfers of members' benefits into and out of the scheme.

Trustees' responsibilities for availability of records

You are responsible for making sure that proper records are kept, even if an insurance company or other administrator carries out the record keeping for you. You must keep the records for at least six years from the end of the scheme year to which they relate. In practice many trustees keep these and other records for much longer.

You must make the records, and any other relevant information, available if the scheme's professional advisers request them (so they can carry out their duties). You must also make them available if the Pensions Regulator, the Pensions Ombudsman, the Board of the Pension Protection Fund or a court request them.

Holding original documents

You need to make sure that, as a trustee, you have all the original documents and records relating to the scheme, for example:

  • trust deed and rules;
  • bank statements;
  • correspondence with your advisers; and
  • the other records we cover in this guide.

Scheme records are trustee property; they do not belong to the employer. All these documents are open to review and inspection by all the trustees.

Should both you and the employer need a document, the original should stay with the trustees and a copy be given to the employer. If, as is sometimes the case, the employer is the only trustee, trustee documents should be kept separate from company documents.

See also the Trustee toolkit module 'Running your scheme'.

Updating the trust deed and rules

The trust deed and rules for your scheme may not always be up to date.

Because they are often lengthy documents, it can be time-consuming and expensive to update them, and it is normal practice to make changes through separate amending deeds. This means that it can be difficult to keep track of the up-to-date position, particularly where there have been a lot of changes.

It is good practice to bring together the changes into a single replacement document at least every five years. You should also update any literature issued to members at the same time, to maintain consistency in the information given about the scheme.

Making changes to the trust deed and rules

If the trust deed and rules are to be amended, you must act in line with the scheme's power of amendment and pensions law.

A power of amendment will usually set out how a provision of the scheme can be amended.

Usually the power to do so rests with the employer and the trustees must agree its use. You must follow the procedure laid down or the amendment may not be effective.

You must also comply with the law when considering changes which affect benefits already earned by a member (subsisting rights). The Pensions Act 1995  requires that some changes to subsisting rights known as 'protected modifications' will always need the member's consent - for example, changing the type of benefit the member has already earned from a defined benefit to a defined contribution basis. If an employer has the power to make an amendment, as a trustee, you must agree to that amendment being made Other 'detrimental modifications' require that either the member consents, or the scheme actuary has to confirm that the actuarial value of the replacement benefits is not less than the actuarial value of the original benefits. You must tell the member that you have decided to make (or agree to) the amendment.

You should be aware that the employer is required to consult certain employees when considering certain changes to the scheme . If the trustees have the power to make amendments you must notify the employer of your proposed amendment and ensure that no changes are made until the employer has carried the necessary consultation.

Our code of practice - Modification of subsisting rights - outlines how trustees may satisfy this requirement and the standards it expects them to meet.

Obtaining an auditor's statement and audited accounts

The auditor's statement

The trustees of most pension schemes need to get a statement every year from the scheme auditor confirming whether or not, in the auditor's opinion, contributions have been paid in line with the scheme's payment schedule or schedule of contributions.

If the statement is negative or qualified, the scheme auditor must give reasons why.

Audited accounts

For many schemes, the scheme auditor will also need to audit the scheme accounts. The accounts usually form part of your annual report about the scheme. The scheme auditor will audit the accounts that you have prepared, or that have been prepared for you by your adviser.

The accounts must be prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for pensions schemes, and must show a true and fair view of:

  • the financial transactions of the scheme during the scheme year;
  • the amount and disposition of the assets at the end of the scheme year; and
  • the liabilities of the scheme, other than the liabilities to pay pensions and benefits after the end of the scheme year.

The auditor's report on the accounts

The accounts must include a report saying whether, in the scheme auditor's opinion, the accounts show a true and fair view and whether they contain specific information set out in law, and with guidelines set out in the SORP.

As a trustee, you will have to approve the audited accounts, and the scheme auditor must sign the report. This must be done within seven months of the end of the scheme year.

Providing information to members and others

The trustees of most pension schemes have to make information available about the scheme, including how it is run and the benefits that it provides.

Who is entitled to information about the scheme?

You should make information available to:

  • members (including active members, pensioner members and deferred members);
  • prospective members;
  • the husbands or wives of members and prospective members;
  • other people entitled to benefits under the scheme (however, not all these people are entitled to see all the information described on this page); and
  • independent recognised trade unions.

When must information be provided?

The people listed above can usually ask for general information about the scheme and the benefits it provides, free of charge, once in any 12-month period. New members should be given this information automatically when they join the scheme.

You also need to provide information to individuals on other occasions either automatically or if they request it – for example, when a member retires, dies or leaves the scheme.

Sometimes scheme events will trigger the need to give information - for example, certain information must be sent out when a scheme starts to wind up or members are being transferred to another scheme without their consent.

Specific items that must be made available on request include:

Producing the annual report

The trustees of most schemes must make their annual report available within seven months of the end of each scheme year. This is a report on how the scheme has been managed and any changes which have happened in the year. It includes changes to the benefits provided by the scheme as well as changes in who is involved in running the scheme.

The report must include, among other information:

  • a copy of the audited accounts and auditor's statement; 
  • details of the trustees and how they are appointed and removed;
  • details of the scheme's professional advisers and fund managers;
  • an investment report, including how the investments have performed;
  • the number and breakdown of scheme members;
  • the number of other people entitled to benefits under the scheme;
  • details of pension increases for defined benefit schemes and how they are worked out;
  • an address for enquiries; and
  • the actuary's certification of the adequacy of the schedule of contributions.

Resolving disputes with scheme members

Trustees of most schemes must have a formal arrangement in place for considering complaints about their scheme. This is known as the 'internal dispute resolution' (IDR) procedure. You must tell scheme members about it.

The IDR procedure covers disputes between the trustees and:

  • the members (including pensioner members and deferred members);
  • prospective members;
  • a widow, widower or someone else entitled to benefits as a result of a member's death;
  • individuals who were recently in one of these categories; and
  • individuals who claim to be in one of these categories.

The law does not prescribe the internal dispute resolution procedure to be adopted by trustees. Trustees can decide on a procedure that best suits the requirements of their scheme. The law simply states that the trustees must make a decision on a matter in dispute and communicate it to the applicant within a reasonable period. The regulator's code of practice suggests that the reasonable period should be four months.

It is good practice to review your IDR procedure regularly, to make sure that it is being administered properly and is working effectively.

The person making the complaint can contact the Pensions Advisory Service at any time about their complaint. And, if the person is not happy with your decision, or if your dispute resolution procedure is not operated properly, they may take the matter to the Pensions Ombudsman.