The Pensions Regulator has published its response to the consultation on the future of trusteeship and governance.

The single code consolidating all 15 current codes of practice is expected to be published for consultation in the first half of 2020. This will form the basis of a subsequent review and updating of the content of the Trustee Knowledge and Understanding (TKU) code (consultation expected in the early part of 2021). There will be no requirement for specific qualifications or CPD to evidence TKU, but an indicative baseline of time spent on ongoing learning is set at 15 hours for lay trustees and 25 hours for professional trustees. The trustee toolkit will be reviewed for improvements over 2020 and 2021. Once the new standards are in place and have had time to bed in, TPR will run an initiative to test levels of TKU and consider taking action where improvements are needed.

The Regulator is not taking forward the idea of requiring a professional trustee on every trustee board. It will chair an industry working group on improving the diversity of trustees. TPR plans to commission research on sole trusteeship but is not making any changes to how it regulates schemes with a sole trustee at present. TPR is still monitoring DC consolidation activity and working with the DWP and the industry on how to overcome the barriers involved, especially in winding up schemes with guarantees.