New Government must prioritise pensions

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) calls on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new Government to urgently follow through on its manifesto pledges for pensions, but it must not stop there if it wants to ensure more people achieve a better income in retirement.

Workplace pensions are a vital part of the UK economy, providing an essential retirement income for millions of workers and driving growth by investing £2 trillion in the UK economy.

Following the Conservative Party win at the general election, the PLSA challenges the new Government to ensure that everyone achieves a better income in retirement.

The PLSA’s pre-election manifesto called on the next Government to promote better retirement outcomes for millions of UK savers by: carrying out the promise of the previous Government to quickly increase the band of salary on which savings are made; to widen the scope of automatic enrolment so it includes more people on low earnings who have multiple jobs; and by 2030 to increase total contributions to 12% with half from the employer.

The new Government must also ensure that a non-commercial Pensions Dashboard hosted by the Money and Pensions Service is set up, and that no others are allowed to operate until a full consumer protection regime is put in place.

We look forward to consulting with the Government when it launches a review into the problems faced by people who earn between £10,000 and £12,500 and who pay into a pension – known as net pay/relief-at-source. This issue could be easily fixed by HMRC altering its IT system.

The Government’s commitment to maintaining the Triple Lock for State Pensions will secure increases that help everyone achieve a better income in retirement by bringing pensioners closer to the PLSA’s Retirement Living Standard minimum value of £10,200 for a single person.

We welcome the Government’s commitment to put in place the right funding regime for defined benefit schemes (backed by appropriate regulatory powers) and to facilitate new large-scale schemes that both provide better protection for savers and more help for employers.

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Research, PLSA said: “I congratulate Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his election win and look forward to his Government’s renewed energy to reform pensions so that everyone has a better income in retirement.

“Ensuring adequate contributions, fostering effective engagement and allowing well-run schemes to operate at appropriate scale provides the blueprint for making the greatest difference to the greatest number of people. We must get on with improving the system.”

ENDS

Mark Smith, Senior PR Manager
 020 7601 1726 |  [email protected]k

Steven Kennedy, PR Manager
 020 7601 1737 | 07713 073024 | [email protected]