Consultation outcome

Permitted charges within Defined Contribution pension schemes

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

Permitted Charges within Defined Contribution Pension Schemes – Government response

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Detail of outcome

This is the government’s response to the May 2021 consultation on the implementation of a de minimis on the charging of flat fees within Defined Contribution (DC) pension schemes.

This document provides a high-level summary of the consultation responses along with the government’s response, which includes proposed regulations and the reform of permitted charging structures.


Original consultation

Summary

Consultation on the government’s proposal to move to a single, permitted universal charging structure for use within qualifying Defined Contribution schemes for automatic enrolment.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

In the government’s ‘Review of the Default Fund Charge Cap and Standardised Costs Disclosure’ published on 13 January 2021, we set out our intention to introduce a threshold – or ‘de minimis’ – below which the flat fee element of the combination charge used by pension providers, cannot be charged to members. The de minimis will be set at £100.

We are now consulting on the policy around the implementation of the de minimis and also on the Statutory Instrument required to bring about this change.

This consultation seeks views on the broader direction we should take on the future structure of charges that are permitted within the charge cap. The consultation sets out the government’s proposal to move to a single, permitted universal charging structure for use within the default fund of qualifying Defined Contribution pension schemes used for automatic enrolment.

The consultation is aimed at:

  • pension scheme service providers, other industry bodies and professionals
  • pension scheme trustees
  • civil society organisations
  • pension scheme members and beneficiaries
  • any other interested stakeholders

Documents

Published 24 May 2021
Last updated 9 November 2021 + show all updates
  1. Published the government’s response to this consultation.

  2. First published.