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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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Thomas v Southwark Council [2024] EWHC 2739 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? A decision of the Pensions Ombudsman may only be challenged on a point of law. Under CPR 52.29, the High Court’s permission is required before an appeal against a Pensions Ombudsman determination can proceed. In this matter, permission to appeal was granted because: the material before the Ombudsman suggested the Council had acknowledged the appellant’s financial dependency on the member, so the criteria for a cohabiting partner’s pension may not have been correctly applied although the Council appeared to dismiss much of the appellant’s evidence of dependency as relating to business costs, it was arguable that business and personal expenditure should be viewed together when assessing financial interdependence This ruling underscores that trustees and scheme managers must apply scheme rules accurately when deciding whether a member or a...
The Bo E stated on 29 November 2024 that its wide-ranging stress test of how the financial system would react to a market shock found that measures by authorities and pensions-sector participants have reinforced the market since the 2022 crisis that affected LDI funds. LDI strategies are used by pension schemes to hedge interest rate risk, involving the management of exposure to rate movements and market volatility. They are common across defined benefit pension schemes......
According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, annual pension payments for around 112,000 former miners will rise by 32%, equating to an average uplift of £29 a week for each claimant. The government has further promised to examine the pension scheme’s surplus-sharing set-up to ensure miners and their families benefit more fairly in the years ahead, with conclusions due in early 2025. Recipients are spread across historic coalfield areas, including Yorkshire and the Humber in the north-east—which represents over 29,000 scheme members—and the East Midlands, which counts roughly 28,850 pension scheme members. Ministers have confirmed the increase covers all who are eligible across the board. ‘ Today, thousands of ex-miners and their families receive the pension payments they deserve’, said Ed Miliband, the energy secretary......
Original news Mr G ( CAS-110116- G1N5)—7 August 2024 Summary The Pensions Ombudsman dismissed a complaint concerning a transfer that moved benefits into a pension liberation arrangement. The applicant had been given the Pensions Regulator’s Scorpion leaflet warning about pension scams, and the transfer was completed in line with the regulatory guidance applicable at the time. The Ombudsman allowed the scheme a one‑month window to adjust to the updated guidance. In any case, it was probable the transfer would have gone ahead even if more robust due diligence had been carried out. The determination highlights the need to assess cases by reference to the guidance then in force, rather than with hindsight... What were the facts? Mr G held deferred membership in the Asda Group Pension Scheme (the Scheme)......
Original news Dr H ( CAS-43565- P2H7)—2 August 2024 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman dismissed a complaint concerning the use of an early retirement reduction in the context of redundancy. The scheme had shut to further accrual, and the complainant continued to enjoy a final salary linkage, but this was protected by an underpin based on the pension accrued at the closure date, revalued to retirement. Interpreting the scheme rules, the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman found that, although the early retirement reduction could be waived on redundancy, that waiver did not extend to the leaving service underpin. The determination highlights the central role of the scheme’s rules when establishing a member’s entitlements... What were the facts?......
In this issue: The Pensions Regulator Pensions dashboards Collective defined contribution schemes Public sector pensions Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers The Pensions Regulator TPR publishes final Fast Track parameters The Pensions Regulator ( TPR) has issued a standalone, finalised version of the Fast Track tests and conditions. Previously included as Appendix 1 to TPR’s response to its Fast Track and regulatory approach consultation, this document details the parameters that a defined benefit ( DB) scheme must meet when submitting an actuarial valuation with an effective date on or after 22 September 2024 under the Fast Track route. In essence, the framework sets expectations across funding and investment stress, technical provisions, investment risk, and the recovery plan. In completing the parameters, TPR made a number of minor tweaks to better clarify its...
AJ Bell’s chief executive contacted HM Treasury on 25 November 2024, pressing for a reconsideration of reforms first set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 30 October 2024 Budget, which would, from 6 April 2027, fold unspent pension pots and pension-related death benefits into an individual’s estate for inheritance tax ( IHT) purposes. Under the proposals, beneficiaries receiving lump-sum pension assets exceeding £325,000 from a deceased person’s estate would face a 40% tax charge. Up to now, retirement savings worth as much as £1,073,100 have been excluded from inheritance tax. The letter urged a rethink of these proposals specifically......
Substance of consultation The government seeks views on proposals to hasten the overhaul and modernisation of the LGPS. At the heart of the plan is a clear intention to speed up the pooling of LGPS assets rapidly. Combining LGPS funds is not a novel idea indeed. Pool structures have existed in practice since 2015, when eight pools were created in total across the system. Nine years on today, under half of LGPS assets under management ( AUM) are run collectively via these pooling arrangements. Ministers consider this inadequate overall and now propose that, by March 2026, every LGPS asset is overseen within eight so-called mega-funds. The LGPS is not a single scheme; as noted above, it comprises 86 distinct sections in England and Wales—each run by its own administering authority. Government wants to alter how these authorities handle their sections and has required every...
In this issue: Pensions allowances Mansion House speech Types of pension arrangements Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Pensions allowances Coming into force of two tax regulations making corrections to the lifetime allowance abolition provisions As anticipated, two regulations commenced on 18 November 2024, applying retrospectively from 6 April 2024, to fix provisions relating to the abolition of the lifetime allowance. The first is the Pensions ( Abolition of Lifetime Allowance Charge etc) ( No. 2) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1012. Among other measures, they: require members to give all pension scheme administrators a copy of their transitional tax-free amount certificate ( TTFAC) and to notify them if it is cancelled permit members to transfer pension savings while keeping any lump sum protection available under their enhanced protection adjust the...
What does the government guidance tells us about what reasonable procedures businesses are expected to take to avoid committing the new failure to prevent fraud offence? Government guidance explains the steps expected of businesses to avoid liability for the new failure to prevent fraud offence. Relevant organisations can rely on a defence to FTPF where they have reasonable procedures to prevent fraud (in this context, fraud intended to benefit the organisation), or if they can show it was not reasonable to expect any prevention measures at all. The Guidance to organisations on the offence of failure to prevent fraud (the Guidance) outlines, in broad terms, the procedures companies may adopt to deter associated persons from committing fraud offences. It states that a company’s FTPF framework should be shaped by six principles: top level commitment risk assessment ...
In a statement dated 18 November 2024, the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman confirmed it had imposed a penalty following a probe by its ‘dishonesty unit’ into Ecroignard Trustees Ltd and one of its ex-directors, Ankur Vijaykumar Shroff. The inquiry examined two pension arrangements for which Ecroignard acted as the appointed trustee— Uniway Systems Ltd Retirement Benefit Scheme and the Genwick Ltd Retirement Benefit Scheme. The determination setting out the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman’s decision bears reference PO-16266. Anthony Arter, the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman, found that the two schemes were established chiefly to channel money into specified, pre-arranged investments......
Royal Bank of Canada ( RBC) In a note to investors, Royal Bank of Canada ( RBC) said trustees are increasingly likely to prioritise the financial strength of each insurer when deciding whether to undertake a pension transaction. RBC published the update as the Prudential Regulation Authority ( PRA) prepares to introduce an 'enhanced' stress test for the UK life insurance sector......
Ballard and others v Buzzard (sued as a Representative Beneficiary of any Scheme Members in whose interests it would be for the Claimants not to obtain the relief that they seek) [2024] EWHC 2765 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Beyond reaffirming the need for documents to be executed in line with the stipulated formalities, this decision demonstrates a welcome, pragmatic solution to flaws in the execution of scheme amendments. Where trustees can point to a substantial body of material showing the parties’ intended outcome, it supports pursuing rectification to address defective execution, either in tandem with, or as an alternative to, construction. The judgment also offers direction on the kinds of materials the court will assess when determining intention on amendments to scheme rules. Alongside witness statements from the trustees in office at the relevant time, the court had: a member...
Practical implications of the Funding Code According to the SPP, more than half of the 250-plus participants at its 14 November 2024 online session, which it hosted, felt, overall, the standout aspect of the new DB funding code was the sharper connection it draws between funding, investment and covenant. A quarter of respondents at the event, called ' Practical implications of the Funding Code', viewed the chief benefit of the framework as the more explicit expectations that it sets from TPR around risk management......
Lefort v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 926 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? For advisers acting for appellants and HMRC, Lefort underscores the tightly confined remit of the FTT when reviewing an appeal against revocation of an FP 2014 certificate under the FP 2014 Regulations, SI 2013/1741, reg 12(3). The tribunal’s sole task is to decide whether HMRC had reason to believe a protection-cessation event occurred under paragraph 1(3), Part 1 of Schedule 22 to the Finance Act 2013 ( FA 2013). Even where such an event is triggered by a mistaken payment, the FTT has no scope to grapple with the mistake itself. The FTT differentiated Lefort from the Upper Tribunal’s ruling in Lobler v HMRC [2015] UKUT 0152 ( TCC), explaining that Lobler concerned rectification, not rescission. This difference matters for...
In a late-night press notice on 13 November, the government announced plans to bring together the fragmented £392bn Local Government Pension Scheme ( LGPS) and the rapidly expanding defined contribution pensions market. Sweeping changes, to be delivered via a new Pension Schemes Bill in 2025, will establish megafunds by amalgamating defined contribution ( DC) arrangements and pooling assets held by the 86 individual LGPS administering authorities. The move aims to build Canadian-style megafunds with sufficient financial heft to back what ministers term growth assets, such as start-up companies and infrastructure. These megafunds are expected to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. The proposals will feature prominently in a speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, at Mansion House on the evening of 14 November 2024. Alongside the Mansion House address, the government’s assessment of the package is due to appear in the...
In this issue: Funding and investment Types of private sector pension schemes Public sector pensions Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Funding and investment TPR’s new defined benefit funding code of practice in force from 12 November 2024 The Pensions Regulator’s ( TPR’s) much‑anticipated code of practice on funding for defined benefit ( DB) pension schemes took effect on 12 November 2024, bringing what Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds characterises as a ‘more robust set of standards’ for the industry. The Pensions Act 2004 ( Code of Practice) ( Defined Benefit Funding) Appointed Day Order 2024, SI 2024/1143, was laid on 11 November 2024, formally setting 12 November 2024 as the date on which TPR’s new DB funding code would commence and take legal effect. The updated code applies to DB pension schemes with actuarial...
Unite the Union and another v Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive T/ A Nexus [2024] UKSC 37 Background to the appeal This appeal concerns whether the written memorandum or record of a collective agreement—intended not to create legal obligations—can be corrected by rectification, and likewise whether employment contracts that import the provisions of such a collective agreement are themselves susceptible to rectification. It further poses issues about who the proper claimants and defendants should be in proceedings of this kind, as well as whether an employment tribunal possesses jurisdiction to determine them. The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, commonly referred to as Nexus, runs the Tyne and Wear Metro. Nexus commenced proceedings against two autonomous trade unions acknowledged as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of its workforce and employees. Those unions are the National Union of Rail, Maritime and...
The Pension Regulator’s new defined benefit ( DB) funding code It provides direction for trustees, sponsoring employers and advisers on meeting legislative demands for funding and investment approaches, and clarifies what is required of them. The code promotes sound behaviours in long-term planning and risk management. It also advises trustees on shaping funding plans that align with the level of support their sponsors can offer, and on how maturing schemes can lessen heavy reliance on their sponsors. It sets clear expectations throughout, too......
The FRC confirmed it has proposed amendments within its consultation on updates to the UK stewardship code, prompted by criticism that the present definition suggests stewardship’s primary aim is to advance environmental and social objectives. Richard Moriarty, the FRC’s chief executive, said the consultation represents a significant development of the code, ensuring it sustains strong standards of stewardship in a way that remains proportionate and continues to support UK growth. He added that, in doing so, the intention is to further enhance the UK’s appeal as a leading global destination for capital and its management. However, the FRC noted that its updated and strengthened definition still emphasises the......
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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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