More than 16m people are now saving into master trust pensions, according to data from The Pensions Regulator.

Workers have so far saved £35.8bn into master trusts - with nine out of 10 people saving into the largest master trusts.

The TPR’s annual DC Trust report also revealed the number of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes has fallen by 12% since last year.

A master trust is a multi-employer occupational pension scheme and the TPR has encouraged pension schemes to move to this model.

The TPR says the move to master trust authorisation has created a “safe and stable market” for workplace pensions and has led to greater consolidation of DC schemes.

Other highlights from the report include:

• A significant increase in the number of people saving due to automatic enrolment had led to a decline in average savings per member every year since 2013. This trend appears to be stabilising.
• Since the beginning of 2010 the number of schemes which identified themselves as having 12 or more DC memberships, including hybrids, has declined by 62%.
• The majority of DC schemes are micro (95%) and a majority of these have identified themselves as a Relevant Small Scheme (RSS).

David Fairs, executive director of policy, analysis and advice, said: “Thanks to the success of automatic enrolment, the vast majority of DC members are saving into large, stable master trusts which, through the authorisation programme, have demonstrated to us that they meet the high governance standards.

“The drop in the number of DC schemes shows many are consolidating. Consolidation is good news for savers - we only want to see well governed schemes that meet our expectations in the market place so that all savers have the best opportunity to save for a retirement they want.

“We know many small schemes are poorly run and we are working with the industry to drive up standards of governance and trusteeship. For trustees who cannot or will not fulfil their responsibilities properly, we encourage them to consider consolidation.”

• Separately, the TPR has launched compliance ‘spot checks’ this year on some of the UK’s largest employers who were among the first required to comply with automatic enrolment when the roll-out started in 2012.