PLSA supports Private Member’s Bill on automatic enrolment reform

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) comments on the Private Member’s Bill on automatic enrolment reform.

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Advocacy, PLSA said: “Automatic enrolment has seen over 10 million people newly saving or saving more for a pension in the UK. This is a genuine success story. Combined with the new State Pension, automatic enrolment ensures that many more people can meet some of the costs of later life.

“As new DWP analysis confirms today, however, some groups are not currently within the scope of the automatic enrolment regime which limits their ability to save effectively, and the level of automatic enrolment saving is low in comparison to workplace pensions of the past. Unless more money is set aside for the purpose of retirement, future generations will find that their incomes will be insufficient to meet their retirement goals.

“The PLSA supports increasing the momentum in automatic enrolment by extending it to workers under age 22 and removing the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) so that people save from the first pound of earnings. We have also long maintained that in order for savers to reach an adequate income in retirement, further increases should be undertaken over the next decade so that AE rises from an 8% pension contribution today to around 12% in the early 2030s – split 50/50 between employers and employees.

“We are very pleased to support Jonathan Gullis MP’s private member’s bill which will provide the legislative footing to extend automatic enrolment so that a greater number of savers can have an adequate income in retirement.

“The news that the Government, in the form of the Minister for Pensions, Laura Trott, has not opposed the Bill, means these changes are very likely to make it into law at some point over the next year with the result that millions of people will get a better pension when they retire.”

-ENDS-

Mark Smith, Head of Media Relations
020 7601 1726 | [email protected]

Cali Sullivan, PR Manager
020 7601 1761 | [email protected]