Breaches of law and communications regarding enforcement powers
FOI reference - FOI-398
Date - 15 July 2025
Request
The British Dental Association (BDA) is the trade union for dentists in the UK. We support, advise and represent dentists on pensions matters; and engage with governments and pensions agencies on a number of public service pension schemes.
It has been clear to us for some time that a combination of underfunding, a complex tax regime and the burden of delivering the McCloud remedy has led to many dentists receiving declining levels of service from their pension scheme administrators.
We suspect that the Pensions Regulator is very familiar with the issue of delays in providing statutory statements. In recent years we have also had members present with issues linked to incorrect calculations of Pension Input Amounts, incorrect calculations of contribution levels and incorrect interpretation of regulations linked to pensionable earnings. These issues have been resolved, or are being resolved, with BDA engagement; however their existence gives rise to concerns that such errors may be replicated elsewhere and are not being addressed.
We are keen to get a more developed understanding of the range of matters being considered under the regulatory regime by public service pension schemes in which we have members. These are:
- 1995/2008 NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales)
- 2015 NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales)
- 1995/2008 NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland)
- 2015 NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland)
- 1995/2008 HSC Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland)
- 2015 HSC Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland)
- Armed Forces Pension Scheme
- Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme
- Civil Service Alpha Pension Scheme
With a view to the Pensions Regulator’s powers, and for each of the schemes listed above, please could you provide the below information, covering the time period between 1 January 2019 to present:
- Under the function of Gathering Information - how many reports of breaches of law you have received; and how many members this has affected.
- Under the function of Regulatory and Enforcement Action - all instances of such action that has been taken. Please could you provide details of communications sent to each Scheme?”
On 26 June 2025, you clarified the second point of your request and confirmed you are requesting:
- “Copies of correspondence that TPR has sent to the Pension Schemes communicating the possibility of using enforcement powers, or, in the absence of that"
- Details of how, and when, TPR has communicated the possibility of use of any enforcement powers to the schemes?”
Response
I confirm that we hold some of the information you have requested. However, some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure.
Information we can disclose
Under the function of gathering information: how many reports of breaches of law you have received and how many members this has affected
Between 1 January 2019 and 4 July 2025, TPR received 79 breach of law reports relating to the provided schemes, associated with approximately 6.3 million members.
Details of how and when TPR has communicated the possibility of using any enforcement powers to the schemes
When opening an investigation TPR will consider writing to parties subject to our regulatory action to inform them of the investigation. This letter may include the potential powers under consideration, whether the recipient is a potential target, the relevant processes and procedures and notifying them of the potential for formal information requests to be issued.
Information which is exempt from disclosure
Copies of correspondence that TPR has sent to the pension schemes communicating the possibility of using enforcement powers
I can neither confirm nor deny we hold the information you have requested in this point of your request as this type of information is exempt from disclosure under the exemption at section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA. This exemption applies where a public authority is prohibited from disclosing information by or under an enactment.
The reason we can neither confirm nor deny we hold the requested information is its disclosure is prohibited under an enactment, save in certain circumstances which do not apply here.
TPR has been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others. These powers are balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’, which is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:
"…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person"
Under section 82(5) of the PA04 it is a criminal offence to disclose such information except as permitted under that Act.
Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we can neither confirm nor deny whether we hold the requested information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.