The Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) has been on The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) watchlist since 2016, its chief executive Charles Counsell has revealed.

In a letter to the Work and Pensions Select Committee chair, Frank Field, dated 12 July, Counsell said that RPS has been on its ‘watchlist’ since it started monitoring schemes in June 2016, assessing the covenant, funding and investment of the scheme.

He added that the regulator was preparing to issue a warning notice against one of the train operating companies (TOC) in the scheme in late 2017, but that it was put on hold in late 2017 “because the threat of enforcement action led to a constructive response” from the trustee and the operating company.

“I would like to clarify that TPR was preparing to issue a warning notice, but this was put on hold in late 2017 because the threat of enforcement action led to a constructive response from the trustee and TOCs to our concerns,” Counsell wrote.

“This dialogue opened up the opportunity to address the issues on an industry-wide basis rather than for an individual TOC. We are continuing to work with the trustee, TOCs and Department for Transport (DfT).”

In April, the committee questioned the regulator with regards to its engagement with RPS, after it was reported that the scheme had a funding gap of £5-6bn.

It follows the disqualification of Stagecoach from bidding on three current UK franchise competition, following concerns its offer failed to safeguard sections of RPS.

Stagecoach was bidding for East Midlands Rail, South Eastern Rail and the West Coach Partnership, said that its bid was “consistent” with industry guidance, however the DfT said the group had made “significant changes” to the commercial terms of the bidding.

Counsell sent the letter after promising to follow up on several issues raised in his evidence session before the committee on 26 June.

Other issues touched upon include how the watchdog is tackling pension scams and how it is dealing with its sustainable growth objective.

Furthermore, the regulator gave an update on the number of fines it has issued on chair’s statements, issuing 522 where either none have been prepared or they do not comply with regulations.

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