The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has used a total of 43,700 enforcement powers between April and June 2018, new figures reveal.
This is an increase from just under 36,000 enforcement powers the previous quarter, indicating that the regulator is cracking down on employers failing to meet their workplace pension obligations.
In its latest quarterly report, TPR said it has used a number of different powers for the first time in cases involving pension scams, scheme valuations and automatic enrolment.
These include a trustee who was fined for failing to complete a valuation on its DB pension scheme, as well as a trustee who was fined £25,000 after it twice failed to have the required scheme valuation completed.
A recruitment company was also among the first to be fined for illegally opting out workers who had been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme.
Commenting on the figures, Nicola Parish, TPR’s Executive Director of Frontline Regulation, said: “Our actions over the quarter demonstrate how we are continuing to develop as an organisation to be clearer, quicker and tougher.
“We’re using powers for the first time and working closely with other organisations to better protect members of pension schemes.”
The figures also show that a total of 12,220 fixed penalty notices were issued in the quarter recorded, an increase of 9.5 per cent from 11,156 in the previous quarter.
27,219 compliance notices were also issued in the quarter – the most in any three month period and an average of one every five minutes.