The OPA is concerned that the government's commitment to raising the level of MNTs to 50% shows signs of wavering. In this survey of its members’ schemes the OPA has found:
- 44% of the 32 schemes surveyed already have 50% MNTs
- as many as 32% did not consider that their scheme’s present arrangements for nominating and selecting MNTs were “fair, transparent and proportionate” as required by the Code of Practice
- Pensioner members are often being restricted from becoming MNTs by the manipulation of the nominating constituencies.
A comparison of the scheme governance with five other OECD countries has shown that the UK is "out of step" with international practice in having only one third MNTs.
The OPA suggests that any alleged recruitment difficulties for MNTs could be best addressed by utilising more of the recently retired members. These members very often make the best trustees.
Scheme governance could also be improved by encouraging more schemes to appoint an independent chairman. Furthermore it is not fair that in many schemes deferred members cannot become involved in the nomination of trustees.
See the full report here (pdf, 71kb) |
