But it doesn’t stop there. The next 3 years will also be busy if their 52 page Corporate Plan is anything to go by. This builds on their Medium Term Strategy (MTS) document released in April 2006 and sets out their strategy on how it plans to deliver its risk-based regulation and where its resources will be used. And as expected, the Regulator is now turning its attention to defined contribution (DC) schemes.

• Governance of work-based pensions will be improved via a year-on-year improvement in the extent to which trustees demonstrate knowledge and understanding of governance requirements. This includes ‘contract-based’ schemes such as group personal pensions and stakeholder pensions

• Risks to members of defined contribution schemes will be reduced by raising understanding amongst trustees and others involved in running defined contribution schemes

• Defined benefit scheme funding will be strengthened by completion of scheme specific valuations and those schemes with deficits will have agreed recovery plans.

The role of the trustee has not changed and neither have the responsibilities. Trustees should continue to :

• Carry out their fiduciary duties and comply with trust law

• Provide information to TPR as necessary

• Develop knowledge and understanding

• Work with the employer and negotiate with them robustly when required.

But DC scheme trustees may find that they will have to upgrade their knowledge and understanding. The Regulator has already started discussions on how this should be done with the publication of two papers which largely focus on DC:

* source – TPR 2005-2006 Annual Report & Accounts