Until 29 January 2004 Opra is consulting on a revised version of Opra Note 6, which aims to provide guidance to pension scheme trustees and their professional advisers, administrators and other service providers about their power to report breaches of legal requirements and the circumstances in which Opra would expect them to report and why.

It takes into account Opra's experience of working within this reporting regime since the Pensions Act came into force on 6 April 1997. To no-one's surprise, Opra has found that the majority of reported breaches do not pose a significant risk to the security of scheme assets or have any significant detrimental impact on members' benefits. As Opra believes compliance has improved, it has raised the threshold for "material significance" and is focusing its regulatory effort on areas critical to the protection of members' interests.

Opra does not want reports of breaches that do not pose a significant risk to members' interests. Consistent with the recently introduced 'traffic light' system for statutory whistleblowing by scheme actuaries and auditors, Opra's proposed new approach requires careful thought rather than 'knee-jerk' reporting. The regulator expects trustees and their professional advisers and administrators or other service providers to consider the nature and impact of any breach they find before deciding whether or not to make a report.

The consultation document sets out Opra's 'traffic light' framework and outlines examples of:

• breaches a trustee or their professional adviser, administrators or other service providers may become aware of in carrying out their duties that Opra considers to be materially significant;
• the circumstances which may make a breach materially significant; and
• factors Opra expects trustees and their professional advisers, administrators or other service providers to consider when deciding whether to make a report.