The Determinations Panel (DP) is a committee of The Pensions Regulator (TPR). It operates separately from other parts of the organisation, including TPR’s case teams.
The DP has a separately appointed membership and legal support. This enables it to make independent and impartial decisions. The DP considers all the evidence before it and provides each party with reasonable opportunity to present their case. Members of the panel are not involved in the investigation process.
The DP consists of:
- a chair appointed by TPR
- at least six other people who are nominated by the chair and appointed by TPR
Current members
Antony Townsend (Chair)
Antony has wide ranging experience as a chief executive and board chair of regulatory organisations, and in complaints handling. He is Chair of the Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman Service, Chair of Entrust (the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund), an Independent Investigator for the House of Commons, and Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service.
His former roles include Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner, Chair of the UK and Ireland Regulatory Board of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Chair of the Regulatory Board of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Deputy Chair of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, an Independent Review Chair for NHS England (Continuing Healthcare reviews), and Trustee and Director of South Warwickshire Citizens Advice.
He was the first chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority from its establishment in 2006 until January 2014. He was also the General Dental Council’s chief executive from 2001 to 2006. In the 1990s, Antony held a number of senior roles at the General Medical Council, including Director of Standards and Education, and head of Conduct. His earlier career was with the Home Office, where he worked primarily on criminal justice issues.
Anthony Arter
Anthony was awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours Awards 2023 for services to pensions and to charity. He is currently the interim Chair of The Pensions Ombudsman (appointed January 2024), the interim Deputy Pensions Ombudsman and interim Deputy Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman. He was appointed in January 2023.
He was formerly the Pension Ombudsman and Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman. Anthony is a solicitor who has specialised in pensions since 1996. He was Eversheds LLP’s Head of Pensions from 2005 until 2013 and their London Senior Partner 2009 until 2014. May 2019 until September 2021, Anthony was Chair of the Ombudsman Association for the UK, Ireland and overseas territories.
Until 2015 Anthony was an independent member of the Pensions Management Institute Committee overseeing their Accredited Adviser Programme. He has also been an independent trustee for many years and in December 2018, Anthony was appointed as a pro bono independent Trustee Director of the Action for Children Pension Fund. Anthony has been involved in community volunteering initiatives over many years and in 2009 he was chosen by Prince Charles (as he then was) to be his Business in the Community London Ambassador for volunteering.
Sarah Chambers
Sarah is currently an Electoral Commissioner, a Judicial Appointments Commission panellist, and Chair of the Applications Panel of the Renewable Energy Consumer Code. She is also a member of the CAA Independent Review Panel (investigating the air traffic control incident of 29 August 2023), and of the CAA Regulatory Advisory Panel, and is a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Greenhouse Sports charity.
Her previous roles include Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, CEO of Postcomm, Commissioner of the Competition Commission (subsequently a panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority), a member of the CAA Consumer Panel, an Independent Director of the Payments Council, and directorships in several civil service roles.
Anne Fletcher
Anne is currently a panel member and member of the Utilities Panel for the Competition and Markets Authority. She is an experienced Group General Counsel (BT plc) and Compliance Director (Visa Europe, Royal Mail, BT plc) and was an Audit and Risk Committee member for the Office of the Public Guardian until January 2021. Anne is also a former Trustee for the Royal Mail Senior Executive Pension Plan and a former Vice-Chair of the BT Benevolent Fund.
Megan Forbes
Megan is currently a member of Ofgem’s Enforcement Decision Panel and was previously Chair. She is a legal adviser in the Government Legal Department.
Previously Megan was the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Transformation at the General Pharmaceutical Council and a director at the Financial Conduct Authority. Megan’s responsibilities at the FCA have included leading the IT, finance, HR, communications and legal teams that support the FCA’s enforcement division. Prior to working for the FCA, Megan was Legal and Enforcement Partner at Ofgem, the regulator of the gas and electricity markets, where she led a major transformation of Ofgem’s approach to enforcement.
Stephen Mount
Stephen is currently a member of the RDC of the FCA, Chair of the Audit Committee at Gama Aviation Plc and a major NHS Foundation Trust and acts internationally as an expert witness on financial reporting, corporate governance and auditing matters.
He was formally a member of the Audit Quality Review Committee at the Financial Reporting Council. Stephen retired as a senior partner with PwC in 2016, after almost 4 decades’ auditing and advising FTSE, Fortune 500 and smaller/midcap listed companies in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia across a wide range of industry sectors. He also served in a number of PwC management roles. His experience, gained from leading and participating in Main Board and Audit Committee meetings, and with investment bankers, investors, regulators and other advisors on corporate and capital market matters is comparable to having served as an Independent Non-Executive Director with over 40 publicly listed companies. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Margaret Obi
Margaret is a solicitor and former partner in a leading criminal defence practice. In 2014 she left private practice to become an independent legal consultant. Her work includes advising other lawyers in relation to investigations undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office and the National Crime Agency. She also advises international legal teams defending allegations of war crimes in the International Criminal Court and advising on disputes between states in the International Court of Justice. She is an independent Legal Assessor and Legally Qualified Chair for various statutory bodies.
She is currently a committee member of the Law Society’s Women Lawyers Network with a special interest in mentoring. She is also a trustee/director of Appeal, a charity and law practice dedicated to fighting miscarriages of justice and advocating for reform of the criminal justice system. Margaret was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2018 and Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the British international Overseas Territory in 2023.
Pauline Wallace
Pauline is the inaugural chair of the UK Accounting Standards Endorsement Board. She was formerly a member of the RDC at the FCA, and of the ICAEW Regulatory Board.
Pauline was until recently a non-executive director and chair of the audit and risk committee of the Paradigm Trust (a multi-academy trust) and is currently chair of governors at a special needs primary school. She was previously a partner at PwC where she was head of the global financial instruments team before becoming head of public policy and regulatory affairs.
Members' expenses
We publish the expenses for the Determinations Panel Chair and members for each quarter. This includes all expenses incurred for travel, accommodation and meals etc, as well as any hospitality given to others. A separate sheet shows any hospitality received by these individuals in their capacity as Determinations Panel members during the specified quarter.
Some explanatory notes:
Expenses are incurred by Determinations Panel members in two ways. Either individuals spend their own money whilst on TPR business and then claim it back (see staff and board / panel expenses policies in our Publication Scheme) or, particularly for travel and accommodation that needs to be booked in advance, TPR makes bookings directly and is invoiced for the cost. For this reason, these expenses will be published for the quarter in which they were paid, and therefore may not necessarily appear alongside other expenses (claimed back in arrears) for the same trip.
Determinations Panel quarter 1 expenses (1 April to 30 June 2024)
Determinations Panel quarter 4 expenses (1 January to 31 March 2024)
Determinations Panel quarter 3 expenses (1 October to 31 December 2022)
Determinations Panel quarter 2 expenses (1 July to 31 September 2022)
Register of members' interests
Last annual review date: 1 February 2024
Antony Townsend
Role
Chair
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Chair, Entrust (Landfill Communities Fund)
- Chair, Strategic Advisory Board, Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service, Council of Inns of Court
- Independent Investigator, House of Commons
- Chair, Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman Service
Occupational pension schemes
- General Medical Council (pensioner)
- General Dental Council (pensioner)
Anthony Arter
Role
Panel Member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Interim Deputy, Pensions Ombudsman, and Interim Deputy, Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
- Owner, Little Steps Limited children’s day nursery
Current directorships
Managing Director, Little Steps Ltd
Non-profit organisations
Director, Action for Children Pension Fund
Positions on pension scheme trustee boards, their subcommittees, or employment by such schemes
Pro bono Director (Independent Trustee) Action for Children Pension Fund
Chair, DC Section Sub-Committee
Occupational pension schemes
Metropolitan Police pension scheme (Pensioner)
Sarah Chambers
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Adviser/Consultant, Civil Aviation Authority
- Chair, Renewable Energy Consumer Code Applications Panel
- Commissioner, Electoral Commission
- Panel member, Judicial Appointments Commission
- Member, CAA Independent Review Panel
Non-profit organisations
Trustee and Vice-Chair, Greenhouse Sports (Charity)
Occupational pension schemes
PCSPS
Anne Fletcher
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
Panel member, Competition and Markets Authority
Occupational pension schemes
- Member, BT pension scheme
- Former Trustee, Royal Mail Senior Executive Pension Plan
Megan Forbes
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Member of Enforcement Decision panel, OFGEM
- Government Legal Department
Occupational pension schemes
- Civil Service Pension Scheme – Classic and Alpha Scheme
- The Plan FCA pension scheme
- Zurich personal pension
Stephen Mount
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Financial Conduct Authority (RDC)
- Non-Executive Director, Gama Aviation Plc
- Non-Executive Director, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
- Expert witness on financial reporting, corporate governance and auditing matters
Current directorships
- Gama Aviation Plc
- Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
Margaret Obi
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
- Deputy High Court Judge
- Acting Judge, Supreme Court of British International Overseas Territory
- Deputy Chair, Financial Conduct Authority
- Legal Adviser/Chair: Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, General Dental Council, General Optical Council, Health and Care Professions, Council, Taxation Disciplinary Board, Royal Institution of Chartered Accountants, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Architect Registration Board, Social Work England, General Osteopathic Council
- Freelance Legal Consultant
Current directorships
- ANNII Legal Services
- Appeal – Charity
Occupational pension schemes
Judicial pension scheme
Pauline Wallace
Role
Panel member
Current employment or office in addition to panel role
Chair, UK Endorsement Board
Current directorships
UK Accounting Standards Endorsement Board Ltd
Non-profit organisations
- Member, Paradigm Trust
- Chair, Governors Middleton School
- Former member, ICAEW Regulatory Board
Occupational pension schemes
Reuters Pension Fund (husband)