The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has levied almost £100,000 in penalties against small DC pension schemes for governance failures related to the 'value for members' assessment.

Between July and December TPR penalised 19 schemes, with overall fines totalling £97,750.

The regulator has warned that trustees should consider whether their savers would be better off in a larger scheme and consider winding up.

Gaucho Rasmussen, executive director of regulatory compliance at the Pensions Regulator, said: “All savers deserve to be in schemes with good governance.

“Where trustees cannot compete with the best in the market, either in terms of value or governance, they should consider whether a transfer to a better-value scheme and winding up is what is best for their savers.”

New rules came into force in 2021 requiring schemes to complete the detailed value for members assessment to enhance transparency, improve governance and reduce the risk of savers receiving poor value.

TPR research in 2021 showed just 17% of schemes required to complete the detailed assessment had done so, and 64% were unaware of this statutory obligation.

In response, TPR launched a large-scale regulatory exercise, running throughout 2023 and 2024, which included probing DC scheme returns to ensure compliance.

TPR, the FCA and the Department for Work and Pensions are currently working in partnership to develop a new value for money framework. TPR said this will improve the value schemes deliver for savers by standardising the assessment process, enabling comparisons to be made across the DC landscape including contract and trust-based schemes.

The regulator’s compliance and enforcement bulletin also showed that its use of powers around auto enrolment remained consistent.

In the six months to December TPR issued 31,740 compliance notices on AE duties, in comparison to 30,688 the previous six months.

TPR saw 97% of employers pay their workers’ AE contributions on time during the six month period.