UK - As more pension scheme sponsors threaten to go bust, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published guidance to help trustees through the UK lifeboat scheme's assessment period.

The guide intends to help trustees to better understand the journey a scheme must make to complete the assessment period and the key activities it needs to undertake, and the roles and responsibilities of the trustees during this period.

Peter Walker, PPF director of delivery, said the Trustee Good Practice Guide comes as support through what he calls "a complex and demanding time".

The assessment period starts as soon as an eligible scheme's sponsoring employer goes bust. The PPF aims for schemes to complete this assessment within two years.

Vernon Holgate, director of Capital Cranfield Trustees, commented: "The Good Practice Guide is more meaningful for trustees as it focuses on the issues, approaches and skills needed by trustees confronted by the challenges posed by the assessment period."

The guide was released days before the PPF announced the members of three more pension schemes now fall under the lifeboat scheme: the Project Office Furniture plc Retirement Benefit Plan, the Davies and Newman Pensions Plan and the Newton Derby Ltd Pension and Life Assurance Scheme.

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