Below is a list of forthcoming draft regulations and consultations that are planned by DWP in the current financial year (2007/08) on occupational and personal pensions.

In addition, discussions with the industry about Personal Accounts are continuing in the wake of the publication in June 2007 of the summary of consultation responses to the White Paper (Personal accounts: a new way to save).

This autumn the Government also intends to produce a response to the deregulation review, "outlining decisions for further action". The Deregulatory Review report was produced by external reviewers Chris Lewin and Ed Sweeney. They were asked in their terms of reference to seek consensus on the balance between member protection and encouraging employer provision of pensions (see earlier Aries article).

Their key recommendations for changes to the current legislation are:

• changes which might make it easier for employers to get back surplus funds in their own pension schemes (Aries comment: recent fretting about 'trapped surpluses' will surely be muted by stock market events of the last few days);
• a move towards less detailed and prescriptive legislation, starting with simpler rules on what schemes must tell members;
• changes to the circumstances in which an employer leaving a multi-employer scheme has to make a payment to the scheme;
• making it easier for schemes to change their own rules to take advantage of changes to legislation; and
• concentrating the requirement for trustee expertise at board level rather than on individual trustees.