Pension Schemes Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 26

Parliament voted on 15 April 2026 to reject Lords Amendment 26 to the Pension Schemes Bill, by 269 votes to 162. The amendment, passed in the House of Lords, would have protected smaller pension schemes that perform well from being compelled to merge into larger ones under the Bill's "scale requirement." By voting to disagree with the Lords, the government's Commons majority removed that protection, keeping intact the original provision that can require consolidation based on scale without exemptions for individual scheme performance.

The practical effect is that the government retains the power to set scale thresholds that smaller occupational pension schemes must meet, regardless of how well those schemes are performing for their members. Proponents of consolidation argue that larger schemes can reduce administrative costs, access a wider range of investment strategies, and practise more active ownership of assets. Opponents, including the Lords who passed the amendment, argued that good performance should be sufficient justification for a scheme to remain independent, and that forcing mergers purely on size grounds could harm scheme members, reduce competition, and suppress innovation in the pensions sector.

The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 262 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government position, as did the four Green MPs and two independents voting aye. All 87 Conservative MPs, 59 Liberal Democrats, five SNP members, four Reform UK members, and three Plaid Cymru members who voted opposed the government. There were no notable cross-party rebels. The result is consistent with four other divisions held on the same day on related Lords amendments to the Pension Schemes Bill, all of which the government won by similar margins.