The PPF published a plan last year to amend the calculation of the levy to take account of more long-term risk but following a consultation has conceded the changes require further work and will not be introduced until 2012/13 at the earliest.
PPF Chief Executive, Alan Rubenstein, said: “We remain committed to developing a levy which is fairer to levy payers and which more accurately reflects the long-term risk that all levy-paying pension schemes pose to the PPF, no matter how large or small.
“This group will not be tasked to achieve consensus on the current proposals. Instead, I want to use the expertise of those invited to consider the issues raised, incorporate their insights into our thinking and, I hope, come up with genuinely new ideas.”
Both the National Association of Pension Funds and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) welcomed the proposals.
CBI head of pensions policy Neil Carberry, said: “We look forward to continuing to work with the PPF on the long-term development of the levy, in particular on ensuring that it is fair to all employers.”
While many supported the principles behind the proposal, they were divided on how it should be implemented.
Some actuaries criticized the PPF for assuming that if two companies had the same chance of going bust within one year, they must also have the same chance of going bust within five years.
They argued the plan would have adopted a crude approach to measuring the risk of an investment strategy which would have failed to give schemes credit for sophisticated risk reduction techniques.
Others claimed the changes would have seen the share of the levy paid by the largest 100 pension schemes rise from 27% to 31%.
