New Pension Schemes Bill to declare Ombudsman a “competent court”

The Pension Schemes Bill announced in today’s King’s Speech will, amongst other things, declare the Pensions Ombudsman to be a “competent court” for the purposes of section 91(6) of the Pensions Act 1995, overruling the Court of Appeal’s decision in The Pensions Ombudsman v CMG Pension Trustees Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 1258 and removing the need for pension schemes to apply to court to enforce the recoupment of overpayments.