Hopes have been dashed that the government might bring in a law to inflation-proof pensions earned before 1997. The Pension Schemes Act, which became law at the end of April after the former Pension Schemes Bill cleared parliament, contained no protection for our pre-97 pensions. Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes like the Reuters Pension Fund (RPF) are not legally required to protect pre-97 pensions from inflation. Campaigners from other pension funds which pay no increase at all on these pensions had hoped the law would be changed to protect their pensioners from the impact of inflation. In contrast, the RPF has almost always given some increase to these pensions, in recent years generally up to a maximum of 2.5%; the law requires an increase capped at 5% for pensions earned between 1997 and 2005. Nevertheless, the Act does include enhanced powers for trustees and new rules to allow DB scheme

The PRG asked the Trustee to explain two recent administrative errors which have impacted different groups of RPF members and caused some concern. An exercise by the RPF administrator, Isio, to verify the accuracy of data held on ‘non-pensioner members’ — deferred pensioners and other future beneficiaries, such as widows — included an error related to benefits. This prompted the Trustee to publish a detailed explanation and apology, making clear that the error did not affect pension entitlement https://www.reuterspensionfund.co.uk/2025/08/01/data-verification-error/. Some recipients were confused by the terminology used in the data verification letters and subsequent correction i.e. “Benefits at date of leaving (per annum)” and “Value for Money (VFM) underpin” (please see the Isio article). To clarify, the figures are “at date of leaving” and NOT a members’ retirement quote. PRG has asked the Trustee to ensure that Isio communications to members are clearer in future. The second error concerned incorrect

There’s been a lot of discussion recently in the general and specialist pensions media about government plans to make it easier for Defined Benefit fund sponsors – the employers — to access what some in the pensions industry call “trapped surpluses,” which many DB schemes have built up in recent years. In their pursuit of growth, the government wants to encourage sponsor companies to invest their pension surpluses, or at least part of them, to boost the UK economy. This could involve fund sponsors investing surpluses in their own companies, with the inducement being a reduction in tax paid on these surpluses to 25 pct from 35 pct For all Defined Benefit fund members there is also an important potential gain because a surplus, or part of it, could be used to increase the pensions of both existing and future pensioners.  For example, it might be possible to use the RPF surplus to