The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has published thirty research reports on 7 October 2024. Those relevant for pensions include the DWP’s report ‘Applying Behavioural Insights to Green Pensions’ which gathers defined contribution (DC) pension schemes members’ understanding, attitudes and behaviours in relation to engaging with environmentally sustainable pensions (green pensions). Publication of the report included experimental testing to understand what communications are most effective in encouraging greater engagement with green pensions via Randomised Control Trials of different email interventions from three pension providers. These were designed to encourage pension savers to learn more about the sustainability of ‘green pensions’ and measure their intent to switch to a greener investment option. However, findings show low consumer engagement with the sustainability of their pensions, indicating that progress towards aligning pension investments with environmental sustainability will require further intervention including research to understand the role of parties including employers, pension providers, trustees and government, in increasing the environmental sustainability of investment funds, with a focus on default arrangements. The DWP has also published ‘Lessons on Pensions Engagement’ which explores consumer engagement and ways to increase public engagement with private pensions in the UK. The research brings together the views of six expert interviews across the UK, Western Europe and Israel with the findings from a rapid review of publicly available literature. It provides new insight and understanding into some of the factors influencing pensions engagement and highlights areas for further research. Finally, the DWP’s ‘Attitude and Awareness before State Pension Age’ report presents the findings from a survey of 2,535 British adults aged 54 to 64, to understand the awareness of the State Pension system and attitudes towards retirement among those approaching State Pension age. In particular, the research involved an omnibus survey to understand the general population’s awareness of State Pension deferral as well as how deferral is perceived and the reasoning behind decisions to defer.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published new research examining how people’s working lives affect pension saving and retirement incomes, ahead of the publication of the Pensions Commission’s interim report later this week. The DWP’s report, 'Life courses and pension saving patterns', was commissioned to provide new evidence on groups considered at risk of under-saving for retirement, including women, part-time workers and the self-employed. The research findings in the DWP’s report are being used to inform the work of the Pensions Commission, which has been tasked by the government to explore the long-term questions of pensions adequacy and retirement outcomes.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published its response to the consultation on ‘The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) Regulations review 2023’ which had sought the pension industry’s views on the proposed changes to the General Levy to alleviate the deficit in levy funding between 2024 to 2027. The DWP’s response provides a summary of the responses received and confirms that the government has decided to proceed with option 2 in the consultation which allows for the current structure of the levy to be retained while increasing rates for all schemes at 6.5% per year. This option will bring the cumulative deficit back into a compliant level by 2031. The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/274 have been made and laid in both Houses of Parliament and will come into force on 1 April 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published statistics relating to the employment of working-age (aged 16-64) disabled people in the UK, based on annual data to March 2024 and quarterly data to June 2024.  The statistics include that (1) there were 5.5 million disabled people in employment in the UK, (2) the disability employment rate was 53% compared to 81.6% for non-disabled people, (3) the disability unemployment rate was 6.9% compared to 3.6% for non-disabled people, (4) the disability economic inactivity rate (where the person self-reports that they are not in or looking for work) was 43.1% compared to 15.4% for non-disabled people, (5) the number of working-age disabled people has increased by 580,000 compared to the previous year, and (6) the disability employment gap was 28.6% which was a decrease of 0.6% compared to the previous year.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published the underlying data and statistics for the evidence pack accompanying the Second Pensions Commission's interim report, ‘Pensions 2050: Evidence and Future Priorities’.  The evidence pack was prepared by the DWP’s Pensions and Later Life Analysis team to support the Pensions Commission's work and sets out the evidence and analysis underpinning the Second Pensions Commission’s interim report, examining the key challenges facing the pensions system, trends over time and groups that may experience poorer outcomes. It also covers the strengths and pressures facing the system, retirement adequacy, private pension saving, participation gaps including among the self-employed, and the growing importance of decumulation in shaping retirement outcomes.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published an updated roadmap setting out the government's phased timetable for implementing the Pension Schemes Act 2026 reforms across defined contribution (DC), collective defined contribution (CDC) and defined benefit (DB) workplace pensions. The roadmap explains the sequencing of reforms, indicative implementation dates and the government's objectives of improving retirement outcomes, increasing value for money, supporting scheme consolidation and strengthening pension investment, while giving schemes, providers and regulators greater certainty when preparing for implementation.

Law360: The government will release detailed reports on Monday, 21 July 2025 that experts believe could be a springboard for the long-awaited launch of the review on the state of UK pension adequacy.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has reported on the prosecution of an organised crime gang responsible for the theft of £53.9m in a benefit fraud case. The investigation by DWP and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), assisted by Bulgarian authorities and Eurojust, resulted in the conviction of five members of the organised crime gang who had falsely claimed approximately £53.9m in Universal Credit. Galina Nikolova, Gyunesh Ali, Patritsia Paneva, Stoyan Stoyanov and Tsvetka Todorova, of Bulgarian nationality, have pleaded guilty to a number of charges at Wood Green Crown Court including laundering money from false benefit claims and sharing forged and fake documents. Investigators have seized a number of items which include bundles of cash, designer goods and a luxury car. Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, Ben Reid, said that 'this case is the largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought to the courts in England and Wales' and 'the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division will now pursue confiscation proceedings against the defendants, to remove from them any available criminal benefit from this enterprise.'

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has acknowledged maladministration in its communication of State Pension age changes to women born in the 1950s, accepting the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's findings of a 28-month delay in writing to affected individuals. Despite this admission and an official apology, the government has declined to offer financial compensation. This decision is predicated on evidence suggesting that 90% of the affected women were aware of the changes by 2006, and that earlier letters would not have significantly altered outcomes. The government deems a compensation scheme, potentially costing up to £10.5 billion, as unjustifiable and impractical to implement fairly. Instead, it commits to supporting pensioners through the Triple Lock, projecting increases of up to £1,900 in State Pension by the end of the current parliament.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a letter responding to the Work and Pensions Committee’s inquiry and evidence session into discretionary payments and member representation in defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. It explained that the Pension Schemes Bill gives trustees greater flexibility to use scheme surpluses, including by allowing employers to access surplus funds where trustees judge this appropriate. Trustees may negotiate conditions that benefit members, such as discretionary increases for pre-1997 pensions, and new guidance already encourages schemes to develop policies on surplus management as part of good governance. The government confirmed ongoing work with HMRC on the tax regime for surplus release and emphasised that trustees remain responsible for determining how members benefit while ensuring that the primary purpose of schemes, the provision of retirement income, is maintained.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published the government's response to its consultation on the draft defined Benefit (DB) funding and investment regulations (which ran from July 2022–October 2022), together with the revised draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024 (draft Funding and Investment Strategy Regulations 2024) which were laid before both Houses of Parliament on 29 January 2024. Subject to Parliamentary process, the draft Funding and Investment Strategy Regulations 2024 are set to come into force on 6 April 2024 applying to valuations with effective dates on or after 22 September 2024. Schemes will then have 15 months from the effective date of their valuation to agree a new funding and Investment strategy alongside any recovery plans.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that forthcoming guidance on trustees’ fiduciary duties will be designed to give clearer and more practical support on how wider factors can be considered within existing legal obligations. Responding to a written parliamentary question, the DWP said the guidance will clarify trustees’ ability to take account of system-level risks, including climate-related risks, and to consider the impacts of investments where these affect members’ long-term outcomes, such as their standard of living. The DWP also indicated that the guidance will explore how trustees may take account of members’ views, provided this is consistent with acting in members’ best interests, and will reaffirm that trustees should consider all financially material matters, where appropriate, in investment decision-making. The DWP emphasised that the objective is to deliver the guidance in partnership with the pensions sector and other interested parties, with work due to commence shortly through an industry roundtable to gather views and technical expertise.Source: Pension Funds, Question for Department for Work and Pensions, UIN 106678, tabled on 19 January 2026.