TPR publishes new five-year Corporate Strategy, detailed Corporate Plan and Regulatory Roadmap
Ref: PN26-15
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has set out a clear direction for the next five years with the publication of its new Corporate Strategy, its latest Corporate Plan and a Regulatory Roadmap supporting the implementation of the government’s pensions reform agenda.
Automatic enrolment has transformed retirement saving in the UK, with 23 million people now saving into a workplace pension. But the pensions system is still unfinished business with 15 million working-age people under-saving for retirement.
That is why TPR today published its new Corporate Strategy centred around a clear vision: that people have a sustainable income in retirement, supported by a pensions system that provides security and value for all.
To achieve the vision TPR will focus on delivering the greatest impact for members across three areas: raising governance standards, driving value for money, and improving sustainable outcomes at retirement.
And to help schemes navigate the coming years against the backdrop of the Pension Schemes Act 2026 reshaping the market, a new roadmap outlines when industry will need to engage, comply and deliver for members.
Today’s suite of publications provides a clear line of sight for the industry on TPR’s priorities and expectations, providing a ‘no surprises’ approach so industry understands what TPR will be focusing on and when:
- A sustainable retirement income for all – Our Corporate Strategy 2026-31 sets out the outcomes that will drive TPR’s work and prioritisation over the next five years, as it takes an active, system-wide role in making pensions work for members.
- The Corporate Plan 2026-27 sets out the areas TPR will focus on over the next year in pursuit of its strategic priorities and how it will measure performance.
- The Regulatory Roadmap provides the industry with visibility of when TPR, and our partners in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will be engaging on pensions reform through consultations, regulation and guidance, including forthcoming milestones on value for money, guided retirement, collective defined contribution schemes and defined benefit surplus release.
Emma Douglas, Chair of TPR, said:
“We are moving towards a system of fewer, larger, well-run schemes, able to invest in diverse assets in the interests of members, and potentially the UK economy.
“As the market consolidates and evolves, our role is not simply to respond to change but to actively shape it. We will set clear direction, working closely with the FCA, DWP and industry partners, use our regulatory powers with intent, and influence how the market develops so that scale and innovation are harnessed in service of better member outcomes.”
Nausicaa Delfas, Chief Executive of TPR, said:
"Our full focus is on ensuring that people receive what matters most: a sustainable income in retirement. Our new strategy and plan set out our blueprint to protect, enhance and support innovation and growth across the whole pensions journey, from saving through to retirement.
“This marks a significant departure from TPR’s previous strategy which centred on the accumulation phase, and is the latest demonstration of our move towards system-wide and outcome-focused regulation.”
TPR’s new Corporate Plan sets out the detail of how TPR will deliver on its vision of a sustainable income in retirement over the next year with a focus on:
- Scheme governance: raising the quality of scheme governance and administration across schemes, including through the implementation of a new ‘common supervisory framework’ and risk assessment model to inform how TPR directs its regulatory efforts for impact and efficiency.
- Value for money: enhancing the value for money that people experience throughout their pensions journey. Key activities include supporting DWP in drafting the value for money framework regulations, collaborating with the FCA to ensure regulatory alignment. In addition, we will publish guidance on the extraction of defined benefit surplus, while protecting member security and scheme sustainability.
- Retirement: ensuring members are confident entering retirement and can transition smoothly into products that provide a sustainable income in later life. TPR will work with DWP on the development of the regulatory framework for guided retirement, working with DWP and FCA to ensure alignment of member experience between trust- and contract-based schemes. We will also deliver a fully operational framework for connected and unconnected multi-employer CDC schemes.
- An efficient and effective TPR: further strengthen TPR as a modern, capable and data-driven regulator. Activities include delivery against TPR’s recently-published AI Plan setting out TPR’s expectations on how AI will be governed and used within the pensions sector.
Notes to editors
- The strategy and supporting documents, including a response to the consultation on the draft strategy, can be accessed on our website.
- The Corporate Strategy explains that TPR will progress activity against six outcomes – member and market – that guide its regulatory work and will demonstrate success:
- Savings are secure: Workplace pension members’ benefits are secure and delivered as promised.
- Better value: Workplace pension members benefit from investments and services that deliver long-term value and support a sustainable income in retirement.
- Pensions are fair: People have fair access and opportunity across the workplace pensions system.
- Well-run schemes: Effective scheme governance and administration by independent, forward-looking and highly skilled trustees and scheme managers.
- A sustainable and resilient market: A resilient, financially secure pensions system that supports UK growth and operates efficiently.
- A seamless and integrated system: An end-to-end journey – from joining a scheme to taking an income in retirement, with innovative products and services connected to how people live their lives.
- TPR is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Its mission is to protect savers’ money, help to enhance the pensions system, and support innovation in the interests of savers. Its statutory objectives are to:
- protect members’ benefits
- reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund
- promote, and improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes
- maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties
- minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only)
