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Defined benefit and hybrid schemes open to new members

FOI reference - FOI-311
Date - 10 September 2024

Request

I seek information regarding defined benefit (DB) and hybrid pension schemes that are currently open to new members. Specifically, I am requesting the following information:

List of all open DB and hybrid pension schemes:

  • The names of all DB and hybrid pension schemes that are currently open to new members.

Assets under management (AUM) / number of members

  • The total AUM for each of the listed DB and hybrid pension schemes.
  • The number of members for each of the listed DB and hybrid pension schemes.

We are aware from the Houses of Commons Committee report on DB pension schemes published on 26 March 2024 that there are 199 open schemes, dominated by two main players (Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and the railway pension schemes (RPS) which represent £110.5bn of the £165bn in open DB schemes). If providing a list of the other 197 open schemes to account for the remaining £54.5bn is too time consuming, please can you provide:

  • A list of the next five largest open DB schemes that are currently open to new members, including AUM and number of members.

I believe that the information requested falls within the scope of data that the regulator would hold. If my request is too broad or does not provide enough detail, I am willing to refine my request to help retrieve the information.

Additionally, if any of this information is already available in the public domain, I would be grateful if you could direct me to it.

Response

I confirm that we hold information you have requested. However, some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure.

Section 44(1)(a) – restricted information under s82 Pensions Act 2004

As we have been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others, those powers are also balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’, which is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:

‘…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person’.

Under section 82(5) of the PA04 it is a criminal offence to disclose such information except as permitted under that Act.

Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we are unable to disclose the requested information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.

Help and Advice

Please see our 2023 annual report on UK defined benefit and hybrid pension schemes which you may find helpful.

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