The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has said it is “confident” that there is a “very low likelihood” it will need to reintroduce the levy if the Pension Schemes Bill passes in its current form.

Speaking at the Pensions Age Autumn Conference 2025, PPF chief actuary, Shalin Bhagwan, acknowledged that one of the greatest challenges with turning off the levy has “always been the impossibility of bringing back the levy once it is turned off”.

This long-standing concern has shaped much of the debate, but he emphasised that the provisions in the current bill offer a stronger degree of reassurance.

According to Bhagwan, the PPF's financial position is “sufficiently strong enough” to ensure that the likelihood of reintroducing the levy in future remains very low.

Bhagwan argued that the organisation's prudent investment strategy, combined with a long-term growth approach, will continue to strengthen its reserves.

These reserves, he added, are expected to grow further and provide the necessary buffer to avoid reinstating the levy.

He confirmed that the PPF aims to finalise its decision-making on the levy over the autumn period, ideally “sooner rather than later”, telling the industry to “watch this space".

While making clear that the chance of reintroducing the levy is low, Bhagwan stressed that it is not entirely non-existent.

He noted that the PPF’s £14bn of reserves provides substantial protection against potential large claims.

“In terms of the levy and bringing back the levy, the flexibilities we see in the bill are such that it will allow us to bring back the levy, and we believe that we should have sufficient flexibility to bring it back in a staged way rather than all in one go,” he explained.

Bhagwan highlighted that the bill's current wording would allow the PPF to adopt a prudent, phased approach should conditions in the defined benefit (DB) scheme universe deteriorate.

“So, we could, for example, take a wait-and-see approach instead of being forced to bring back a levy in its entirety and all at once,” he said.

This flexibility, he noted, was built into the bill following discussions with policymakers, ensuring that the mechanism for reintroducing the levy remains adaptable.

---