Recent news of the revival of a Pensions Commission was music to my ears.

There have been some fluctuations in recent years but overall divorce rates in the UK have been in decline since the 1990s.

As you might know from my previous columns on SIPPs Professional, I am, and have been for some time, a huge advocate for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS).

Ever since “tax-free cash” changed its official name to “pension commencement lump sum” back in 2006 there have been pre-Budget rumours that it was going to change – and not for the better.

The FSCS has declared a Scottish adviser firm in default after it appeared that insurance premiums, and potentially investment contributions, were not being passed on to providers.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data regulator, has fined outsourcing business Capita £14m for failing to protect the security of 6.6m pension savers’ records.

Britain’s pension providers and insurers have joined forces with the government to back a regional growth drive through a new group which will be launched at the first-ever Regional Investment Summit on Tuesday.

Pension transfer values have fallen 6% since the start of 2025, despite a modest increase in September.

The quarterly average was almost 3% down on the end of June, according to XPS’s Transfer Value Index.

While overall values remain low, the firm said the index has shown a period of greater stability, with month-end values fluctuating within a £5,000 range over the past six months.

{loadposition hidden2}

Transfer activity increased slightly in September, with XPS Group’s Transfer Activity Index rising to an annualised rate of 18 in every 1,000 members transferring their benefits to alternative arrangements. After a steady start to 2025, the Index has shown greater volatility over recent months, the company said.

Helen Cavanagh, senior consultant at XPS Group, said: “While transfer values have fallen over the course of 2025, we have also seen signs of greater stability over Q3 which is a promising sign, suggesting a more predictable environment for pension decision-making. This is crucial for members approaching retirement as they will be able to make more informed decisions about the options that may be most suitable for them.

“The increased stability may also be having an impact on transfer volumes, which we have generally increase in 2025, despite the small dip in recent months.”

The firm’s latest Scam Flag Index reported that 92% of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service in September raised at least one scam warning flag – a marginal 1% drop from August. It marks the first quarter since the summer of 2023 where the Index has remained above 90%.

Ms Cavanagh said: “It’s clear that the issue of pension scams is not going away, with the majority of transfers continuing to raise at least one scam warning flag, albeit it in many cases this is the ‘overseas investments’ flag which some may view as a lower risk flag.”

The government’s Pension Tracing Service received 273,709 calls from people keen to trace their lost retirement savings between 1 January 2021 and 29 September 2025.