PLSA comments on republished Pension Schemes Bill

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) comments on the republished Pension Schemes Bill:

“With the reintroduction of the Pension Schemes Bill as one of its first acts following the election, we are pleased the Government is prioritising the £2 trillion pension sector. Workplace pensions provide an essential retirement income for millions of people so it is vitally important schemes have legislative clarity.

“The Bill paves the way for the creation of the Pensions Dashboard, strengthens the powers of the Pensions Regulator, enables a stronger funding regime for DB pension schemes and allows the creation of Collective Defined Contribution pensions. These measures will help more people have a better income in retirement.

“It is disappointing that this Bill has not yet scheduled the planned removal of the lower earnings limit to automatic enrolment contributions meaning millions missing out on extra saving with employer support and tax relief. The Government committed to do this by the mid-2020s so we hope that they will take action on this in the near future.

“Also missing is much-needed action to allow for the option for Defined Benefit pensions to consolidate into superfunds to protect member benefits and create an incentive and achievable goal for employers to accelerate funding into schemes. We know the Minister for Pensions has given his public support to this initiative so we can only conclude it is being delayed for other reasons.

“We welcome measures to prevent scheme sponsors from deliberately evading their responsibilities but current drafting is too loose and risks applying far more widely than intended.

“We hope the new majority Government would seek to resolve these issues by amendment or otherwise miss the opportunity to help millions of savers.”

ENDS

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

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