The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Regulation 2 of these Regulations amends the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/626). It substitutes regulations 6(2) and 7(2) of those Regulations to specify the new figures that are to be used in calculating the rate at which the general levy is payable. The new figures apply for each financial year starting with the one which begins on 1st April 2020.

The purpose of the general levy for occupational pension schemes and personal pension schemes is to fund the Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Ombudsman and partly to fund the Money and Pensions Service(1) to meet the expenditure mentioned in section 175 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (c. 48).

The effect of the changes is to increase the general levy rates for both occupational and personal pension schemes by 10%. This is with the exception of the general levy for schemes with 2 to 11 members which is subject to a proportionately greater increase. For occupational pension schemes, the rate rises from £29 to £75 per annum per scheme and for personal pension schemes, the rate rises from £12 to £30 per annum per scheme.

Regulation 3 of these Regulations revokes the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/203) which imposed the previous increase.

An impact assessment has not been published for these Regulations as they amend an existing statutory levy regime and the associated administrative costs are negligible.

(1)

The 2018 Act created a new body referred to in that Act as the single financial guidance body which took over the functions of the Pensions Advisory Service. This body is now named in the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Naming and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/383) as the Money and Pensions Service.