TPR undertaking internal review after Norton Motorcycles case

Jonathan Stapleton
clock • 1 min read

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) chief executive Charles Counsell has written to Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) chairman Stephen Timms responding to questions over how the watchdog handled issues around the Norton Motorcycles pension schemes.

The comes after the WPC sent TPR a letter following The Pensions Ombudsman's decision to uphold complaints relating to the Norton Motorcycles pension schemes. 

Counsell said TPR was, as a result of the issues raised, undertaking an internal review to identify if there are lessons to be learned in how it addresses conflicts of interest.

He noted however that, while the regulator does not have the resources to review every small scheme, it does intend to do more work in the future looking at the governance issues around smaller pension schemes.

Responding to the letter, Timms said: "TPR's own research has shown the governance standards of small pension schemes to be consistently lower than their larger counterparts. Setting up small schemes has provided opportunities to scammers in the past and we will be looking at this in more detail in our upcoming inquiry." 

The WPC announced it would investigate pension scams in July as the first strand of a three-part inquiry into the impact of the pension freedoms and the protection of pension savers.

More on Law and Regulation

FCA consults on proposals to support stronger SIPP market standards

FCA consults on proposals to support stronger SIPP market standards

Watchdog says it aims to improve consistency and adequacy of due diligence

Jonathan Stapleton
clock 22 June 2026 • 1 min read
Will pension firms become subject to a robot tax?

Will pension firms become subject to a robot tax?

Matthew Giles looks at how taxing the ‘labour’ performed by AI would impact pensions

Matthew Giles
clock 18 June 2026 • 3 min read
Pitfalls with privilege – Ensuring trustees don't stumble at the final hurdle

Pitfalls with privilege – Ensuring trustees don't stumble at the final hurdle

Chris Edwards-Earl looks at issues around privilege in Virgin Media solutions

Chris Edwards-Earl
clock 17 June 2026 • 3 min read
Trustpilot