The Pensions Regulator (TPR) carried out nearly a quarter less inspections, to ensure employers are complying with their workplace pension duties, in Q3 than it did the previous quarter.
Between July and September this year, the regulator carried out 111 inspections compared to 142 the previous quarter - a decrease of 22 percent.
These statistics were published as part of TPR’s latest Compliance & Enforcement Bulletin.
The quarterly bulletins provide information about TPR’s cases and how many times it has used its statutory powers. It’s designed to help employers, their advisers, trustees and administrators understand the type of compliance and enforcement interventions undertaken by TPR.
The bulletin shows that high compliance levels with automatic enrolment duties continue. As well as this, it shows that TPR’s enforcement powers were used a total of 38,095 times between July and September, compared to 43,700 times the previous quarter - a reduction of 13 percent.
Nearly 15,000 compliance notices were issued in Q3 - 45 percent less than issued in the previous quarter (27,219).
TPR has also updated the rolling list of employers named in the bulletin who have paid their escalating penalty notices (EPN) but remain non-compliant, along with those who failed to pay their EPN and are now subject to a court order.
The bulletin also explains how discussions and interventions from case teams has led to trustees tightening up their procedures, to the benefit of their members.
This more proactive approach led to 91 percent of defined contribution (DC) schemes submitting their scheme returns on time in 2017 - an increase from 81 percent a year earlier.