While nine in ten respondent schemes have made progress in establishing a pension board, only 28% of schemes have a plan in place and are addressing key issues to ensure they comply with the requirements introduced by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013.
Andrew Warwick-Thompson, Executive Director at The Pensions Regulator, said: "While there has been some encouraging progress, our research reveals a concerning picture of some public service schemes failing to engage fully with the requirements on governance and administration.
"We recognise that the reforms are significant and those involved with public service schemes face complex and challenging conditions. However, schemes must comply with the law to ensure that the right benefits are paid to the right person at the right time.
"We expect all schemes to assess themselves against the legal requirements and the standards set out in our code, and to take action to address any gaps.
"We are supporting schemes to help them understand and embed the code. We have produced specific guidance through online education tools and e-learning modules, and we’ll also be launching a self-assessment tool in the new year."
The survey assessed what schemes are doing to meet the requirements, and also the standard to which they are being run. It can be viewed on the regulator’s website as part of the public service governance and administration research.
The survey indicates that some schemes are slow, or have yet to take action, in key governance and administration areas including record-keeping.
However, schemes report good progress in terms of setting up processes.
The key findings of the survey include:
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While over 9 in 10 respondent schemes have established a pension board, only 28% of schemes have a plan in place and are addressing key issues to ensure compliance with the requirements introduced by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (NI 2014).
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44% have reviewed their scheme against the practical guidance and standards set out in the regulator’s code of practice for public service pension schemes.
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45% of schemes have measured themselves against the requirements of the record-keeping regulations, and so far only 27% have as a result undertaken a data cleansing exercise.
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Generally there were high levels of reported processes in place against the majority of areas in the regulator’s code of practice.
Mr Warwick-Thompson added: "The survey helps us understand how schemes are doing and focus our priorities. We will be engaging further with those schemes who did not participate in the survey to ensure that their lack of engagement does not reflect a lack of compliance, we expect all schemes to respond to our requests for information.
"We will check on schemes next spring, and we expect them to have made significant progress."
To download the public service governance and administration research click on the document below
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