Pensions Ombudsman publishes 2024/25 corporate plan

On July 31, 2024, the Pensions Ombudsman published its corporate plan for 2024/25, outlining its key priorities and areas of work for the coming year. 

Highlighting the impact of current funding constraints, and a June 2023 cyber attack, the Ombudsman acknowledged that complainants had experienced "unacceptably long waiting times" during the year. Analysis of the Ombudsman’s performance against key performance indicators in 2023/24 revealed that new complainants waited 12 months on average for their applications to be assessed for allocation to the early resolution or formal adjudication teams respectively, compared to a five-month target.   

Against this background, key priorities for 2024/25 outlined in the report include:  

• Reducing waiting times to a sustainable level.
• Reducing the number of older, complex cases from the historical caseload.
• Improving the signposting and pre-application "customer journey" through the provision of additional information to prospective complainants.
• Securing ministerial approval for the long-term funding of the office's Pensions Dishonesty Unit, which is currently only funded until March 2025. 

An arm's-length review is due to be conducted in the coming year. In the meantime, the Ombudsman’s office is conducting its own "root and branch" review of its operating model, with the results intended to improve efficiency. 

Anticipated improvements may include more targeted use of the office's resources, earlier decision-making, and streamlining of both the informal resolution and the formal determination of complaints (for example, through the use of short-form determinations akin to summary judgment at court). 

For the future, the office plans to publish a three-year strategy at the start of the 2025/26 financial year, reflecting the outcome of its impending DWP spending review.