UK Inquiry Tracker

British Steel Pension Scheme

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 15 Mar 2022 Closed: 14 Oct 2022 Parliament page

When the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) was restructured in 2017, its members were given a set of options for what to do with their pension “pot”, including transferring their funds out of the pension scheme altogether. Around 7,700 members, many of whom received independent financial advice to inform their … Read more

5 Recommendations

18 Conclusions

1 Report

2 Oral sessions

1 Letter

2 Events

Activity timeline 7 events

14 Oct
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourteenth report from Session 2022-23

21 Jul
2022

Report published

Fourteenth Report - Investigation into the British Steel Pension Scheme

13 Jun
2022

Oral evidence

British Steel Pensions Scheme; Regulation after EU Exit

13 Jun
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

British Steel Pensions Scheme

23 May
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive, FCA – Financial Conduct Authority, re 27 April - British Steel Pensions Scheme (BSPS) se…

27 Apr
2022

Oral evidence

British Steel Pension Scheme

27 Apr
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

British Steel Pension Scheme

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

13 Jun 2022

View on parliament.uk

British Steel Pensions Scheme; Regulation after EU Exit

Andrew Bailey · Bank of England Emily Miles · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Michael Grenfell · Competition and Markets Authority Sarah Albon · Health and Safety Executive

27 Apr 2022

View on parliament.uk

British Steel Pension Scheme

Caroline Rainbird · Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) Nausicaa Delfas · Financial Ombudsmen Service Nikhil Rathi · Financial Conduct Authority Philippa Hann · Clarke Willmott LLP Rich Caddy · British Steel Pension Scheme Sheldon Mills · Financial Conduct Authority Tim Fassam · Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association (PIMFA)

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Fourteenth Report - Investigation into the British Steel Pension…	HC 251	21 Jul 2022	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 result

5 Recommendation Accepted

Fourteenth Report - Investigation …

Seven years after the Pensions Schemes Act, regulated bodies are still not clear on the...

Seven years after the Pensions Schemes Act, regulated bodies are still not clear on the Financial Conduct Authority’s expectations for consumer protection. The 2015 Pensions Schemes Act provided consumers with greater flexibility for Investigation into the British Steel Pension Scheme … Read more Seven years after the Pensions Schemes Act, regulated bodies are still not clear on the Financial Conduct Authority’s expectations for consumer protection. The 2015 Pensions Schemes Act provided consumers with greater flexibility for Investigation into the British Steel Pension Scheme 7 accessing their pension savings and allowed DB pension scheme members the opportunity to transfer out to a DC scheme to access their savings. The FCA recognised the potential harm these reforms could cause some consumers and was concerned with the speed at which they were introduced. In response, the FCA provided guidance that advisers should assume that, in most cases, a transfer will be unsuitable, creating confusion among advice firms. Adding to this confusion, the FCA consulted on removing its starting position in 2017, despite finding a 17% unsuitability rate for DB transfer advice across the market. Such contradictions and misalignment between the legislation and regulation of transfer advice contributed to the failings of advisers within the BSPS case. There are also uncertainties around the provision of Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII), as the availability of cover has become constrained by limited providers and high costs. The FCA is yet to define its expectations for the PII industry or fully consider its effects on the stability of pension transfer advice market. The FCA has also failed to clarify its regulatory approach to other areas emerging areas of consumer risk, such as crypto asset investments. Recommendation: The FCA should be more proactive and consumer-focused in its engagement with stakeholders. It should have a better mechanism for responding to consumer harms and collect more evidence on a regular basis to pick up on issues that are being raised, especially from emerging risks in financial markets. The FCA must also review how effective the Financial Services Consumer Panel is at consumer protection and how it influences policy debates within the FCA fro Show less

Government Response

The FCA agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to be more proactive and consumer-focused in its engagement with stakeholders. The FCA’s Business Plan sets out its commitments for tackling conduct that can cause serious harm and how the organization is joining up its tools to act efficiently, effectively, and consistently. On BSPS, working in partnership with the FOS and the FSCS, the FCA has engaged extensively with former BSPS members over a significant period of time.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 23 of 5 classified

Accepted 1

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 15

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 2

Rejected 3

Total 5 recs + 18 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

23 May 2022 Correspondence from Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive, FCA – Financial Conduct Authority, re 27 April - British Steel Pensions Scheme (BSPS) session, dated 18 May 2022

Parliament page