FOI reference - FOI-6334
Date - 13 September 2021
Request
- How many companies have been reported to TPR for failing to agree since, Jan 2020 to date?
- How does that compare with other years; figures, if possible, please?
- How far is Covid to blame for valuations of schemes to be delayed?
- How many warning notices have been issued in that period?
- How many improvement notices afterwards?
- And have there been any penalties imposed in that period, if so, to whom?
Response
I can confirm that we hold information falling within scope of your request.
Information we are able to supply
There have been 369 pension schemes, which have 1,134 companies (employers) linked to them, reported for failing to agree a valuation within the statutory deadline during the requested period (January 2020-October 2021).
This table shows how this compares to other years along with a breakdown including the number of enquires/cases, warning notices issued, improvement notices issued and number of Covid risks that have impacted failures to agree.
| Year | RPNA interventions | No. of CV19 Risks Added | Warning Notices | Improvement Notices | Unique schemes per year | Unique employers per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2002 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2003 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2004 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2005 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2006 | 0 | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| 2007 | 16 | Null | Null | Null | 26 | 38 |
| 2008 | 101 | Null | Null | Null | 102 | 329 |
| 2009 | 78 | Null | Null | Null | 77 | 120 |
| 2010 | 93 | Null | Null | Null | 97 | 143 |
| 2011 | 82 | Null | 1 |
Null | 80 | 193 |
| 2012 | 251 | Null | 1 | Null | 253 | 349 |
| 2013 | 285 | Null | 1 | Null | 297 | 554 |
| 2014 | 310 | Null | Null | Null | 274 | 738 |
| 2015 | 274 | Null | Null | Null | 268 | 969 |
| 2016 | 230 | Null | Null | Null | 230 | 418 |
| 2017 | 200 | Null | 8 | 3 | 205 | 369 |
| 168 | Null | 6 | 3 | 180 | 280 | |
| 2019 | 121 | Null | Null | Null | 116 | 216 |
| 2020 | 196 | 91 | Null | Null | 201 | 456 |
| 2021 | 120 | 26 | Null | Null | 169 | 679 |
Out of the 316 ‘Recovery Plan’s Not Agreed’ reported during the period of Jan 2020 to date, in 117 cases Covid-19 was cited as a reason, or having played a part in, the failure to submit the valuation by the statutory deadline.
Between April 2020 – June 2020, TPR published guidance which confirmed that if trustees chose to delay their valuation by up to three months due to the impact of Covid-19, we would not take regulatory action. This guidance was updated in late June 2020 and the three-month delay option was removed. Following this, we saw an influx of Breach of Law reports submitted in the month of July 2020. As a result of the published guidance and the impact of Covid-19 in general, we allowed more time for trustees and employers to negotiate their valuation. TPR’s pragmatic and understanding intervention enabled compliance to be achieved without the need for formal enforcement action.
TPR take all late valuations seriously as they are a breach of legislation. Our approach is robust, but we will always act reasonably. When valuations are late, and we engage, compliance is very high without us having to report to powers, however we will consider them and have used where necessary.