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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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In this issue: Funding, surplus and investment Members and benefits Trustees, governance and administration Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Funding, surplus and investment Pensions Investment Review: Final Report published alongside three consultation responses as government proceeds with investment and surplus extraction reforms On 29 May 2025, the government released the Final Report of the Pensions Investment Review, initiated by the Chancellor on 20 July 2024. While presenting its findings, the government stresses this represents only one strand of its wider pensions reform programme. In brief, the Review sought to curb fragmentation in the defined contribution ( DC) workplace pensions arena, channel more capital into productive assets, and lift savers’ outcomes, while also simplifying the Local Government Pension Scheme ( LGPS) to realise its investment capacity. The Final Report confirms that the changes will allow DC...
On 27 May 2025, HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC) said it had been sounding out employers’ views on a number of ‘hypothetical’ situations put to them. Among them was scrapping the National Insurance ( NI) relief for employers and employees in relation to these arrangements, removing NI exemptions that currently apply. Typically, employee pension contributions are free of income tax, yet they attract NI. Many employers provide an alternative under which staff give up part of their taxable pay and, instead, the employer makes an equivalent payment into the worker’s pension scheme on their behalf. This reduces NI liabilities for both parties, cutting NI bills for employers and for employees. Government figures suggest salary sacrifice features in about 30% of private sector and 9% of public sector pension arrangements......
According to its yearly review of the UK’s fiscal prospects, the IMF noted that plans unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in November 2024 to merge defined contribution pensions into megafunds could deliver gains, including lower charges and broader exposure to varied asset classes. It cautioned, nonetheless, that care is needed to avoid unwanted consequences, such as a weakening of competition, as the IMF underlined. Ministers anticipate the reforms will produce larger vehicles that can harness economies of scale, with more scope to channel savers’ money into illiquid holdings, for example national infrastructure schemes and companies, over time. At the time, the government added that bringing together the highly fragmented Local Government Pension Scheme and defined contribution master trusts into megafunds might free up about £80bn for investment purposes......
Financial services adviser Broadstone reported its review of the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA)’s most recent Financial Lives Survey, released on 16 May 2025, indicated that one in three savers who moved were dissatisfied with the result. Around 12% of members with a DB pension are thinking of moving to a DC arrangement, Broadstone added, citing the FCA figures, which drew on responses from 17,950 people questioned between February and June 2024......
The Department for Work and Pensions stated the proposals would 'boost investment' while delivering advantages for pension scheme members. Specifics of the overhaul remain uncertain; however, ministers confirmed that a formal reply to consultations will appear in the coming weeks, with initial draft provisions set to feature in the next Pension Schemes Bill. Torsten Bell, the Pensions Minister, argued that expanding surpluses in pension funds can be put to productive use. ' At present, certain trustees are prevented from passing on the value of a surplus, but our approach will enable every scheme to do this safely, thereby unlocking higher levels of investment across......
LCP stated that HSBC, Nat West, BP the oil giant, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group together held over £20bn of the FTSE100’s £40bn pension scheme surplus at the end of December 2024. The average surplus for firms with a UK defined benefit pension plan on that index is £600m, the consultancy added. Funding surpluses in defined benefit arrangements have surged—a stance LCP says is set to endure. The adviser also noted there has been an overall surplus across the UK’s top 100 companies for five consecutive years, and that 80% of that cohort with a defined benefit pension workplace savings scheme reported a surplus at their 2024 balance according to LCP at year-end 2024......
In this issue: Pension Schemes Bill The Pensions Regulator Transfers Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Pension Schemes Bill Pensions surplus release plans to be included in Pension Schemes Bill In a statement, the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP) confirmed proposals that would permit defined benefit ( DB) pension schemes to distribute a share of their surpluses through the forthcoming Pension Schemes Bill. The purpose is to help sponsoring employers reinvest in their businesses while unlocking extra value for scheme members. With around three-quarters of DB schemes now in surplus and deficit contributions markedly lower (from £16bn in 2010 to under £5bn in 2024), the DWP and pensions minister Torsten Bell emphasised that the reforms will ensure any surplus use is secure, member-centric, and aligned with wider economic ambitions. The precise design of the...
On 16 May 2025, WPI Economics noted that pension funds already hold £280bn in UK assets and cautioned that rigid rules setting fixed allocations might have unintended consequences. The caution followed the government’s unveiling of the Mansion House Accord, under which 17 pension schemes signalled plans to open up for pension savers access to potentially higher net returns from private markets within diversified portfolios, while also increasing investment in the UK. They argued that prescriptive fixed-allocation mandates risk backfiring in practice......
'financial lives' survey On 16 May 2025, the FCA reported in its 'financial lives' survey that, in 2024, 33% of DC pension holders had under £10,000 in their pot, a decrease from 40% in 2020. Among the 17,950 people surveyed between February 2024 and June 2024, 56% said their combined pot totalled £10,000 or more, up from 49% in 2020. The FCA also highlighted that one in ten people had no cash savings at all, while a further 21% had less than £1,000 available for an emergency. It additionally concluded that one in four people in the UK had what it described as low financial resilience: they had missed payments, were finding it difficult to keep pace with commitments, or lacked savings to help them through challenging periods......
Industry representatives told the parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee that imposing compulsory quotas for UK private market assets on pension funds could lead to unintended consequences. They were commenting on the Mansion House Accord, under which 17 pension providers agreed with HM Treasury on 13 May 2025 to assign 10% of portfolios to infrastructure and clean energy by 2030. Around 5% of that allocation will be directed to UK holdings. The government expects this to deliver an additional £25bn in domestic investment over the period clearly set out in the agreement......
Automatic enrolment built a nation of savers TPR said pension schemes should deliver better choices for savers at the decumulation stage, when people first gain access to their retirement pots. The regulator issued this warning after research commissioned by the Pensions Policy Institute ( PPI) revealed that 70% of Britons withdraw all their defined contribution ( DC) retirement savings without taking professional advice or guidance. ( See: TPR commissions PPI report on DC decumulation risk: unified industry action sought to enhance retirement support, LNB News 15/05/2025 10) Patrick Coyne, interim director of policy at TPR, said automatic enrolment had created a nation of savers. He added: Now we must move from a......
Original news stories: DWP press release: £1,000 retirement savings boost from plans to bring together small pension pots DWP: Small Pots Delivery Group Report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/small-pots-delivery-group-report Since automatic enrolment began in 2012, millions of UK employees have been putting money aside for retirement. While it is generally regarded as a major success overall, a notable issue has surfaced: the growth of small, deferred DC pension pots. This often arises when someone is enrolled into a pension scheme and soon moves to a new role, leaving behind a modest pot of savings that may not be accessed for many years. In theory, savers can transfer that pot to their next employer’s scheme or a personal plan, but the evidence shows this is not happening at the scale needed to prevent the problem from expanding. The DWP’s figures indicate there are now 22.9 million deferred DC pots under £10,000 and 13...
What is the background to the Act? The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) gained Royal Assent on 26 October 2023, with some provisions already operative. A principal reform within ECCTA 2023 is the shift towards a more regulatory role for the Registrar of Companies, intended to raise the quality, accuracy and openness of information held on the Companies House registers, while also bolstering the Registrar’s stance in combating economic crime. What are the key provisions of relevance to pension schemes, trustees and managers? Although ECCTA 2023 is not aimed specifically at UK pension schemes, it captures all UK companies. Consequently, the developments affect corporate bodies and their directors, including corporate trustee boards and corporate trustee directors of UK pension schemes. General changes In broad terms, corporate trustees should anticipate closer scrutiny and more active engagement from Companies House when...
Pensions matter hugely. HM Treasury stated that 17 pension schemes, collectively overseeing 90% of defined contribution assets, had committed to sign the Mansion House Accord. Under this agreement, schemes will channel 10% of workplace pension portfolios overall into areas such as infrastructure, property and private equity by 2030. No less than 5% of these holdings will be confined to investment in the UK market. According to the government, that 10% slice equates to £50bn in total, meaning the UK stands to receive £25bn worth of investment......
Morgan Lloyd Trustees Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2025] UKUT 00102 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This appeal underlines that, notwithstanding a legal error identified by the UT—here, the FTT’s misdirection about the proper test for identifying the contract’s ‘commercial context’—the UT retains a choice as to whether the decision should be overturned. Against that backdrop, the UT’s treatment of how the relevant agreements ought to be construed, and its assessment of the findings of fact made by the FTT (valuation material included), is noteworthy. Accordingly, the UT focused on the words actually used and on the FTT’s recorded findings, rather than substituting a broader commercial gloss. That emphasis shaped the result reached in Formwise in practice. In relation to Formwise, despite the FTT’s decision being tainted by an error of law, the UT determined that the parties were to be...
TPT has become the inaugural pension provider to pledge the rollout of a UK multi-employer CDC scheme, widely championed by industry and policy makers alike as the next stage of private sector pension saving in the UK. This follows Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, stating on 29 April 2025 that he intends to bring forward new legislation towards the end of the calendar year to widen the rules for CDC schemes. ' The pensions industry is at a point where innovation is critical', said David Lane, Chief Executive of TPT Retirement Solutions......
As it evolves, the Wales Pension Partnership—created as a new investment vehicle—will pool the assets of 22 Local Authorities, representing 412,000 members, to form the largest pension fund ever seen in Wales. This step directly supports government plans to promote consolidation across LGPS funds. The ambition is for Canadian-style 'megafunds' to emerge from the LGPS, better positioned to channel greater investment into both infrastructure and start-ups in the UK......
ACA chair Stewart Hastie said the trade body backs the Labour government’s January 2025 proposal enabling companies that sponsor defined benefit pension arrangements to draw down substantial surpluses. He urged Pensions Minister Torsten Bell to deliver a pragmatic and successful new regime for defined benefit surplus release. Hastie stressed that pension trustees must remain central to the process, but that the necessary detail — including a new regulator code — should arrive sooner rather than later and underpin a practical approach if the behavioural shift sought is to be achieved......
In this issue: The Pensions Regulator DB superfunds Investments Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers The Pensions Regulator The Pensions Regulator ( TPR) has refreshed its guidance, setting out clearly the circumstances in which a third‑party applicant (e.g. trustees, scheme managers, and sponsoring employers) may formally request that TPR exercises one of the following powers: appointing an independent trustee, a step that can be essential to protect members where trustees fall short of their duties granting extra time by extending the deadline for a cash equivalent transfer ( CETV extension) revoking a prohibition order or a suspension order that stops a person from acting as a trustee waiving an automatic disqualification that would otherwise prevent a person from being a trustee of the scheme Responsibility for decisions on these third‑party applications lies with the Determinations Panel, a TPR committee that operates separately and makes decisions...
Hymans Robertson reported that, with several new insurers entering the fray, supply now surpasses demand in the risk transfer market. This marks a stark and notable turnaround from 2023, when heightened demand effectively edged smaller schemes out of contention and left them unable to complete transactions. ' The evolving composition of the UK risk transfer market signals a genuinely exciting period indeed for small schemes,' said Iain Church, head of core transactions at Hymans Robertson......
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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