The DWP has published its pension reform roadmap, keeping the first Value for Money assessments for 2028 and limiting the opening round to larger schemes. Smaller trust-based schemes and bespoke contract-based arrangements will still have to send data, but they will not be assessed at the start.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said the Government had listened to industry concerns about the crowded reform agenda and implementation strain. She added that the first year of the framework will cover only master trusts, the largest single-employer trust-based schemes, and the largest multi-employer contract-based arrangements open to new employers.
Kate Smith on 2028 scope
Smith said the first year of the framework in 2028 will bring no automatic consequences from assessment outcomes. She also said the VfM Framework will be extended across the market from 2029, with potential consequences from then.
That sequencing leaves smaller schemes with a narrower first-step burden than the larger providers in scope for the opening assessments. They must complete data returns, and the DWP said the data from those smaller trust-based schemes and bespoke contract-based arrangements will not be published.
DWP roadmap and contract rules
The roadmap also keeps the contractual override on course for Spring 2028. The DWP is considering a targeted and time-limited extension for schemes committed to pursuing an R-CDC scheme as a default pension before they begin defaulting members into it, and it will test that proposal at consultation in the autumn.
Smith called contractual override critical for providers supporting the VfM Framework and its scale objectives. She said it will be available to contract-based providers from 2028 before all default arrangements not open to new employers have to complete their full assessments.
Broadstone and deferred timings
Smith also said legacy defaults across UK pension providers will still need extensive data returns, with hundreds involved. She welcomed the two-year delay for schemes to comply with the Guided Retirement provisions, saying it gives time to work through policy challenges and align them with the proposed retirement CDC provisions.
Damon Hopkins of Broadstone is among those following how the timetable reshapes compliance work, because the early phase now separates data collection from full assessment for some schemes while the broader framework is still being built out. For providers, the immediate task is to prepare for 2027 data collection now, while the wider shift from 2029 will decide how far the framework reaches across the market.
