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What’s the purpose of the Bill?
Building on the reforms outlined in the Pension Investment Review, the Bill aims to:
- Simplify how pensions are managed and understood
- Enable schemes to invest in a broader range of assets
Deliver better long-term value and security for savers
According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Bill will make it easier for millions of people across the UK to manage their pensions and will help stimulate investment in the UK economy.
Key measures in the Pension Schemes Bill
The Bill proposes reforms to workplace and private pensions, with the goal of helping people plan more effectively for retirement. It focuses on improving outcomes for members of both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) schemes.
Targeting poor-performing schemes
Under a new Value for Money framework, DC schemes will be required to demonstrate they are delivering good outcomes for savers. This change aims to give savers access to better-performing schemes and a wider range of investment opportunities.
Multi-employer DC schemes (unless exempt) will be required to:
- hold at least £25 billion of assets in their main default arrangement by 2030, or
- to hold at least £10 billion by 2035, with a clear path to £25 billion
Consolidating small pension pots
Having multiple pension pots all over the place while moving between jobs over time can be hard to keep track of. The new rules will automatically bring pots of less than £1,000 together into one single 'consolidator' scheme. However, you will be able to opt out of it if you want to.
This is supported by the Pensions Dashboards initiative, which will allow individuals to view all their pension information securely in one place.
The date for launching Pensions Dashboards hasn't been confirmed. Keep your member details up to date to ensure they match correctly with the dashboards when they launch.
Improving retirement outcomes for DC members and surplus sharing for DB schemes
For those whose retirement is getting close, the Bill includes measures that will require schemes to offer clear default options for turning savings into an income for life after work and overall simpler retirement choices. This will give savers more secure routes, that are easier to understand, to decide how they should use their benefits in the future.
All pension schemes will need to offer default routes to retirement income.
For well-funded DB schemes, trustees will be allowed to release surplus funds back to members and employers—when it is safe and appropriate to do so. This could unlock part of the £160 billion in surplus assets for reinvestment in the economy.
Reforming investment management in the LGPS
The Bill also includes reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), encouraging:
- Greater consolidation of assets
- Investment in local infrastructure, clean energy, and housing
What does the Pension Schemes Bill mean for you?
At this stage, there are no immediate changes to how your pension benefits are managed or how you plan for retirement with the Scheme.
The Pension Schemes Bill is still making its way through Parliament. It was introduced on Thursday 5 June 2025, and had its second reading on Monday 7 July 2025. The next step is a detailed review by the Public Bill Committee later this year. After that, it will go through further stages before it can become law.
Even once the Bill is passed, the government will need to introduce additional regulations over the coming years to bring many of its measures into effect.
Check the news page regularly for any further announcements and to also keep up to date with news about your pension.
You can read the Pension Schemes Bill legislation in full on the UK Parliament website.
Matt Riley
Manager
Matt joined Zedra Governance Limited (formerly PTL) in January 2008 having previously worked for Mercer Limited, Hazell Carr and Prudential.
As a Manager for the company's Birmingham Office, Matt’s responsibilities include working closely with Client Directors and individually liaising with Employers, Trustees and Members to ensure the smooth running of their pension schemes. Matt’s current portfolio of clients covers ongoing, paid-up and winding-up schemes. In addition, Matt has experience of schemes that have transferred or are in the process of transferring to the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme. Matt also works closely with clients in relation to risk registers and internal controls.
Matt particularly enjoys resolving issues in a fair and pragmatic way ensuring that the right result is reached for the member or employer.
Sam Burden
Client Director
Sam Burden joined Zedra Governance (formerly PTL) in 2022. He is an Accredited Professional Pension Trustee (AMAPPT) and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI)
Sam has more than 25 years’ experience in the pensions industry gained with WTW, KPMG, and Standard Life working with a wide range of pension schemes and sponsoring employers. His trustee appointments include DB, DC and hybrid pension schemes and he has experience of handling a broad range of projects relating to the management of pension schemes.
Beyond his pensions experience Sam is a former Birmingham City Councillor where he chaired the audit committee and a current charity trustee.
Payam Kazemian
Client Director
Payam Kazemian joined Zedra Governance Limited (formerly PTL Governance Limited) in 2021. He is an Accredited Professional Pension Trustee (AMAPPT) and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI).
Payam has more than 17 years of experience in the pensions industry. Through his current role as a professional trustee, as well as previously as a pension’s de-risking and investment structuring expert at financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, he has had overall responsibility for creating investment, de-risking, journey planning, and governance solutions for a wide range of UK DB pension schemes. He currently holds a number of board positions (as Chair of Trustees) and sole trustee in his professional trustee capacity. Payam has been involved with a number of pensions projects including pensions buy-in, pensions buy-out, GMP equalisation, investment strategy reviews, and dialogue with the pensions regulator. Payam looks to create and believes in a collaborative relationship between the sponsor, the trustee, and all other parties involved as this results in best member outcomes and helps deliver pragmatic solutions for scheme. Aside from his pensions experience, Payam holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Cambridge.
