Small self-administered scheme meaning

Original news Mr K (CAS-44560-Q1C8)—12 September 2025 Summary The Pensions Ombudsman upheld a complaint concerning a scheme’s inadequate due diligence on a high-risk investment. The professional trustee was found to have breached both common law and statutory duties by committing funds to storage pods and airport parking. As the investments lacked diversification and were overly speculative, no reasonable trustee would have proceeded. The determination underscores that a professional trustee can be accountable for investment losses even where the member was heavily engaged in making the decision... What were the facts? Mr K was a member of the Blick-Horsham Limited Executive Pension Scheme (the Scheme), a small self-administered scheme (SSAS). The Scheme’s trustees were Rowanmoor Trustees Limited (RTL) and Mr K. He proposed investing in storage pods and airport parking via Store First Limited (Store) and Park First Limited (Park). In February 2015, RTL warned Mr K that the proposed investments featured a two-year break clause and advised him to consider how a replacement tenant might be...

In this issue: Local government reorganisation Public procurement Planning Social housing Adult social care Children’s social care Education Governance Local government finance Healthcare Highways Environmental law and climate change Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Local government reorganisation MHCLG publishes decisions on local government reorganisation The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued an update letter confirming that no determination has yet been reached on proposals for local government reorganisation in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, with further assessment ongoing before arrangements are finalised. MHCLG has also released consultation findings and letters confirming implementation in devolution priority areas to create: five unitary councils in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, five unitary councils (option 1A) in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton, and three unitary councils in each of Norfolk and Suffolk. Council...

Morgan Lloyd Trustees Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKUT 102 (TCC) The company acted as trustee to small, self‑administered pension schemes (SSASs) established by more than 500 employers, who then entered into arrangements with their SSASs aimed at releasing cash. The structures adopted were either loans, secured by charges over various intellectual property (IP) items—such as domain names, websites and trade marks—or, alternatively, sale and leaseback, or sale and licence‑back, deals concerning comparable IP assets. HMRC took the view that many employers had received unauthorised employer payments and accordingly issued assessments to unauthorised payment charges and surcharges. In addition, HMRC assessed MLT to scheme sanction charges. MLT applied to HMRC for discharge of the charges under FA 2004, s 268; however, HMRC refused certain applications and concluded that others were submitted outside the time limit. MLT and the employers appealed to the FTT, which dismissed all of the appeals. The first issue for the UT was the extent...

This Practice Note sets out the principal steps for properly bringing to an end a defined contribution (DC) occupational pension scheme—also described as a money purchase occupational pension arrangement or a trust-based defined contribution plan. Throughout this Practice Note, this type of arrangement is termed a ‘DC scheme’. The guidance applies across a range of DC schemes, including trusts that sit outside the authorised master trust framework and small self-administered pension schemes (SSASs), although the latter may, in certain cases, be excluded from particular statutory obligations or requirements. This Practice Note does not cover the winding-up of any: an ‘authorised master trust’ under the Pension Schemes Act 2017 (PSA 2017)—for further detailed information, please see Practice Note: The authorisation and supervisory regime for master trusts, contract-based DC arrangements (eg group personal pension arrangements)—for further details and guidance, see Practice Note: Winding up of personal pension schemes Statute makes distinct and specific provision for hybrid schemes (combining defined benefit (DB) and DC...

CPR PD 51ZB This Practice Note reviews CPR PD 51ZB, covering a pilot designed to trial an online route for County Court damages actions in cases where each side is represented by a registered legal representative. Cases are administered through the Damages Claims Portal (DCP), an online platform. The pilot operates from 28 May 2021 to 1 October 2026 (CPR PD 51ZB, para 1.3). It forms part of the broader HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) reform programme; further details appear on GOV.UK—Modernising courts and tribunals: benefits of digital services. The DCP offers a complete, end‑to‑end digital pathway for handling eligible County Court damages claims. Also see the following Practice Notes: Online Civil Money Claims pilot scheme—CPR PD 51R—background on the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) pilot, delivering an online route for County Court specified money claims under CPR PD 51R Online County Court money claims—key features—a high‑level summary of the DCP and OCMC, the claim types they cover and the principal eligibility criteria ...

This Practice Note examines how sale and leaseback arrangements are structured, the reasons for adopting them, and the principal points to negotiate in the leaseback documentation... What is a sale and leaseback? A sale and leaseback enables a real estate owner to release capital whilst retaining occupation and use of the property. the disposal by a business of part or all of its property interests in exchange for a cash lump sum; and the concurrent grant back to that business of leases of those properties it still needs to run its operations Sale and leaseback is also commonly used to place property into a self‑invested personal pension or a small self‑administered scheme, which falls outside the scope of this note. See Practice Note: Buying property from a SIPP or SSAS. Certain Islamic finance structures operate in a closely comparable manner to sale and leaseback and are discussed in greater detail in Practice Note: Islamic finance standard documentation in the context...