A summary of The Pensions Regulator (TPR) Board meeting in December 2022.
Apologies, welcomes, declarations of conflicts of interest
The Chair welcomed everybody to the meeting. No declarations of interest had been received in advance of the meeting.
Chair's update
The Chair updated the Board on recent activities, including progress with the recruitment of the new TPR CEO.
CEO report
The CEO updated the Board on the ongoing work following the recent market volatility. The Board noted that the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) had welcomed statements by central banks, TPR and other regulators on the work that had been undertaken to ensure that the market remains resilient when there are higher levels of variance in interest rates. It also noted the FPC’s recommendations. TPR had appeared before the Work and Pensions Select Committee, as had the Pensions Protection Fund and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Defined benefit funding code
The Board noted that the launch of TPR’s consultation on the draft code was imminent.
Pensions dashboards
An update was given on progress on the Money and Pensions Advice Service’s programmes for delivery of the dashboard, to which TPR contributes.
Public bodies review
The Board noted that the upcoming public bodies review had been delayed. However, it was hoped that the process would commence in January 2023.
Committee reports
The Board received its regular biannual reviews:
- Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee – the committee had had been receiving a steady flow of internal audit reports and was focusing on outstanding actions and their resolution.
- Remuneration and People Committee – the committee had recently been focusing on the People and Culture programme, equality, diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, data and systems integration.
Regulatory grip
An update was given on work in progress to define, measure and map TPR’s regulatory grip.
Supervision strategy
The Board received an update on work to review TPR’s supervision strategy to ensure it was fit for the future and reflected TPR’s strategic direction.
Board risk review
The Board conducted its regular review of TPR’s risk landscape.
TPR Board effectiveness review
The Board received its annual effectiveness review, which this year had been conducted by TPR’s Enterprise Assurance team (an external review is conducted every third year). The Board noted the overarching finding that the Board is compliant with relevant external guidelines and expectations, and effective in managing its key responsibilities. A number of recommendations were made and themes observed. An initial discussion was held and an action plan will be drafted for the Board to review.