Date - 6 November 2019
Request
For each of the years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 to date, and for each of the 89 LGPS [Local Government Pension Schemes] funds and eight LGPS pools, please could you let me know:
- how many whistleblower reports The Pensions Regulator has received
- a breakdown of which categories these reports fell into (eg missing contributions, fraud or dishonesty, conflicts of interest)
- how many of these reports proceeded to an investigation
- how many of these investigations led to formal action
Response
To be clear, I have interpreted 'whistleblowing' mentioned in your request as referring specifically to non-statutory whistleblowers – ie reports made to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) by individuals who are not obligated, under section 70 of The Pensions Act 2004, to report breaches of law (statutory whistleblowers).
I can confirm that we hold the information you have requested.
Information we are able to supply
Table 1 provides the number of whistleblower reports related LGPS broken down by year and category of report.
Table 1
| Category of report | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Grand Total |
| Administration | 23 | 17 | 15 | 45 | 11 | 111 |
| Auto Enrolment | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 35 |
| Governance | 1 | - | 2 | 4 | 10 | 17 |
| Investment Governance | 1 | - | - | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| Late Payment of Contributions | 1 | 7 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 64 |
| Liberation | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Not Listed | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Grand Total | 33 | 28 | 53 | 88 | 37 | 239 |
The category of report is an internal coding which encapsulates a number of different concerns. For example, the administration category captures, amongst other things, concerns about systems or process failure, member communications, administrative issues caused by the employer's engagement with the scheme.
Table 2 shows that four cases were opened as a direct result of receiving a whistleblowing report.
It is important to note several points regarding the table 2:
- your request specifies the number of whistleblowing reports which proceeded to investigation, which I have interpreted as the opening of a formal case by TPR as a direct result of receiving the whistleblowing report. In a number of circumstances we may engage with the scheme in order resolve the issue and/or gather more information before launching a formal investigation
- a number of LGPS may have had cases ongoing when the whistleblowing report was received. This is reflective of the fact TPR obtains information from a number of different sources, such as horizon scanning, scheme returns and proactive engagement with schemes
- multiple whistleblower reports concerning the same issue and/or scheme may be received
Table 2
| Year | Cases opened as a direct result of the whistleblowing report |
| 2015/16 | 0 |
| 2016/17 | 1 |
| 2017/18 | 2 |
| 2018/19 | 1 |
| 2019/20 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 4 |
Of the four cases which were opened following receipt of a whistleblowing report none have led to formal action, defined as the use of TPR's legal powers. Again, this should not be interpreted as no powers have ever been used against LGPS schemes.
Advice and Guidance
For a better understanding of TPR's approach to enforcement action you may find it helpful to review some of our recent regulatory intervention reports which relate to the LGPS. These can be found via the following links:
London Borough of Barnet Superannuation Fund - Regulatory intervention report
Regulatory intervention report section 89 for London Borough of Barnet Superannuation Fund
Regulatory intervention report section 89 for Oxfordshire County Council Pension Fund