Value for Money consultation on pension scheme metrics, standards and disclosures opens

The Department for Work and Pensions, the Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator published a joint consultation on 30 January 2023 seeking views on proposals to disclose, assess and compare the value for money of workplace pension schemes¹. The consultation, reference CP23/4, ran from 9:30am on 30 January 2023 to 11:45pm on 27 March 2023¹.

The policy consultation proposed key metrics, standards and data disclosures for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes under a proposed Value for Money (VFM) framework, and included proposals for the use of that data in comparisons and assessments of value for money¹. Responses were to be sent on a template provided by email to the Value for Money Team: DC Policy¹. The consultation document runs to 67 pages¹.

The consultation has concluded¹. The government, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator published their response to the consultation on 11 July 2023¹. The response document runs to 84 pages¹. An analysis of the impact of the July 2023 pension package on member outcomes was also published¹. The page was last updated on 25 July 2023, when an HTML version of the government response was added¹.

Why it matters for households

The proposals concern how workplace pension schemes are measured and compared on value for money, which is the relationship between what members pay in and what they get out. The consultation covered defined contribution schemes, the type most private sector employees are enrolled into through workplace pensions and master trusts. The framework was intended to set metrics, standards and disclosures that schemes would use, and to allow that data to be used in comparisons and assessments¹.

The consultation itself did not change any charges, contributions or investment arrangements. It set out proposals for how value for money would be disclosed and assessed, and asked for views on them¹. The practical effect on members depends on the final rules that follow the response, and the source does not set out a timetable for those rules beyond the 11 July 2023 response¹. The Independent Governance Committees that oversee value for money in contract-based workplace schemes, and The Pensions Regulator, which supervises workplace pensions, are both part of the wider framework this consultation sits within¹.

What happens next

The consultation closed on 27 March 2023 and the government and regulators published their response on 11 July 2023¹. The source does not report any further dated steps beyond that response and the 25 July 2023 page update¹.