The National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026, published on legislation.gov.uk, was made on 21 April 2026 and comes into force on 29 April 2026. It amends the National Employment Savings Trust Order 2010, the core secondary legislation governing NEST, and applies across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In practical terms, the instrument widens the benefit options that the NEST trustee may pay from a member's pension account. For a scheme established under the Pensions Act 2008 and used widely for automatic enrolment, that is a significant change to the scheme's statutory rulebook.
The main legal amendment sits in article 32 of the 2010 Order. The new drafting inserts the words 'one or more of', which means the trustee is expressly permitted to provide more than one form of benefit from the list in that article where the scheme rules and tax law allow. For members who are alive, the amended provision will allow the trustee to provide a lump sum, a scheme pension, the purchase of a lifetime annuity policy in the member's name, or a drawdown pension. The explanatory note on legislation.gov.uk states that scheme pension and drawdown pension are the additional options being added for living members.
In plain English, the Order gives NEST a broader set of retirement income routes. Drawdown pension generally means pension savings remain invested while income is taken over time, while a scheme pension is a regular pension paid by the scheme; the legal meanings used for NEST are those set out in the Finance Act 2004. That matters because the change moves NEST beyond a narrower retirement benefit structure. From 29 April 2026, the trustee will have authority to offer members income options within the scheme rather than relying only on a lump sum or the purchase of an annuity.
The Order also expands the position after a member's death. Article 32 is amended so that the trustee may additionally provide a dependant's scheme pension or a drawdown pension to a dependant of the member, a nominee of the member, or a successor of the member. For families and other beneficiaries, that means NEST's post-death options are broader than before. Instead of the amendment affecting only members' own retirement choices, it also changes the forms of continuing pension income that may be made available to survivors under the scheme.
To define those new categories, the instrument imports wording from Schedule 28 to the Finance Act 2004. The statutory text gives NEST the Finance Act meanings of dependant of the member, dependants' scheme pension, drawdown pension, nominee of the member, scheme pension and successor of the member. That drafting keeps the amended NEST rules tied to established pensions tax terminology. It should also reduce room for disagreement about who can receive these benefits and what form those benefits may take.
The procedural route is set out in the Order itself. The Secretary of State made the instrument using powers in sections 67 and 144 of the Pensions Act 2008; the trustees' consent was obtained as required by section 71; the trustees consulted the members' panel and employers' panel before giving that consent; and the draft Order was approved by resolution of each House of Parliament. Signed on behalf of the Secretary of State by Torsten Bell at the Department for Work and Pensions on 21 April 2026, the measure is therefore not simply an internal scheme change. It is a formal amendment to the statutory basis on which NEST can pay benefits.
The explanatory note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. That indicates the Government views the measure as a targeted change to NEST's benefit design rather than a wider reform of employer duties or automatic enrolment obligations. For members, the practical effect is clear. From 29 April 2026, NEST can legally offer a wider set of ways to convert pension savings into retirement income and to pay benefits after death. For employers, advisers and payroll-linked support services, the immediate question is less about new compliance duties and more about when and how the newly authorised options are made available in NEST's member offer.