Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of auto-enrolment pension contributions which are incorrect.

Government has put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment which ensures that the vast majority of employers are meeting their legal duties, including: declaring compliance, accurately paying contributions and passing contributions to their chosen pension scheme. This framework is backed by statutory powers which enable the Regulator to compel compliance with the law.

Employers, trustees, managers and providers must keep records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the scheme, and the amount payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to TPR. The codes set out what is considered a material breach, specifically: paragraphs 173 and 174 of Code 3; paragraphs 46 and 47 of Code 5; paragraphs 48 and 49 of Code 6; and paragraphs 173 to 186 of Code 14.

In addition, TPR publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.