The Pensions Regulator finds wide governance gap between small and large schemes

By The Financial Edition · 4 November 2026 · 11:14 GMT · The Pensions Regulator · 1 min read

Photograph: Diego Delso, delso.photo · CC BY-SA · sector illustration, not event evidence

Governance standards across scheme sizes

Only 27% of small defined contribution pension schemes have formal governance arrangements in place, compared with 94% of large defined contribution schemes and 89% of master trusts, according to research published by The Pensions Regulator on 4 November 2026. The independent survey, conducted by OMB Research between 15 January and 6 March 2026 among 373 trustees, established a baseline measure of trustee governance practices across the occupational pensions market.

Trustee priorities and succession planning

The research found that mandatory trustee training is reported by 90% of defined benefit schemes and 77% of defined contribution schemes, with seven in 10 schemes having compared their governance against TPR's general code. However, only 29% of trustee boards reported that improving member outcomes was the primary driver of their decision-making, while 55% balanced it equally with regulatory compliance and cost. Additionally, fewer than half of defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, excluding micro schemes, reported having a trustee succession plan.

Why it matters

The regulator's baseline survey highlights a sharp contrast in formal governance standards between small and large pension schemes, increasing pressure on trustee boards to benchmark against the general code and improve succession planning.

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