FOI reference - FOI-225
Date - 13 February 2024
Request
Based on the FOI response (Scheme return data 2022 to 2023 questions), it’d be greatly appreciated if you could provide further clarity on the following please:
- Is there a reason why the total number of schemes for 2023 in Table 1 (1,220) did not align with the total number of schemes in Table 9 (hybrid plus non-hybrid schemes equals 5,404)? Even if adding in DC workplace contract schemes from Table 8 (1,830) to the Table 1 total (1,220), the total would still not be aligned to Table 9?
- Do you have any information as to the contributions and transfer in amounts for master trust specifically over the years (for example, 2017 to 2023)?
Response
I confirm that we hold information falling within scope of your request. I have answered your questions in turn, below.
- The non-hybrid row in Table 9 includes micro schemes (2 to 11 members) which Table 1 does not. This means the quoted 1,220 schemes from Table 1 are included within the 4,780 in Table 9 (these micro schemes are not RSS / EPP schemes, which constitute an additional 21,590 schemes).
- The data we hold pertains to DC-only master trusts and are rounded to the nearest million. We hold the data from year 2020 onwards only, as presented in the table below:
| Year published | Year end date covered | Transfer in | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 31 December 2019 | 3,653,000,000 | 7,696,000,000 |
| 2021 | 31 December 2020 | 3,302,000,000 | 11,984,000,000 |
| 2022 | 31 December 2021 | 8,518,000,000 | 12,559,000,000 |
| 2023 | 31 December 2022 | 8,684,000,000 | 15,202,000,000 |
Please note the following information
This information is based on data provided by schemes on returns we issued from July to December 2022 and relates to the levy year 2021 to 2022 or earlier.
Annual contributions (by employer and employee)
The issue for market value of scheme assets is also present for annual contributions. Within the data sections, we’ve shown data for reported contributions and active members in schemes which have reported contributions (Tables 3.3 and 3.31 to 3.42). We limit reporting to those contribution values whose effective date is no more than three years before 31 December each year. For micro schemes this is five years.
We have used the same method to enable an extrapolated estimate for the total amount of contributions to trust-based DC schemes as for our estimate of assets in such schemes. The difference with respect to contributions is that we provide the active members, rather than all members, as only active members are contributing.
The active members figure could include members who were only active for part of the year.
Transfers into schemes
As with assets, contributions and leaver amounts, not all schemes have supplied relevant transfer-in data. In the data sections, we show information for the amounts reported to be transferred into schemes (Table 3.6).
It should be noted that where members or amounts are flagged as being transferred this means they have been moved from another workplace pension scheme.
Additional Information
We have a list of authorised Master Trusts. For the 2023 DC Trust publication, there were 36 authorised trusts. However, some of these trusts are comprised of multiple schemes which are detailed in Tables 9 and 10.
A master trust is defined as an occupational pension scheme that:
- provides money purchase benefits (whether alone or in conjunction with other benefits)
- is used, or intended to be used, by two or more employers
- is not used, or intended to be used, only by employers which are connected with each other
- is not a relevant public service pension scheme.
A master trust may also be a group of schemes, none of which are already master trusts, which provide money purchase benefits, and where each scheme in the group is under 'common control' with other schemes in the group. We refer to this group of schemes as 'cluster schemes' in our master trust code of practice.