Queen's Speech puts pensions high on Government agenda

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) is pleased the Government has prioritised retirement saving by announcing the reintroduction of the Pension Schemes Bill in the Queen’s Speech.

If reintroduced under its previous drafting, the Bill will provide much-needed legislative clarity to take forward the pensions dashboard as well as strengthening powers for the Pensions Regulator, enabling a stronger funding regime for DB pension schemes and the creation of Collective Defined Contribution pensions.

Pension schemes expect the strongest corporate governance standards from the companies in which they invest. It is therefore also positive that the Government has announced it will develop proposals on company audit and corporate reporting, including a stronger regulator with more powers, as set out in the Employment Bill.

The PLSA also supports the Government’s commitment to reform social care. However, it is vital that solutions to tackle social care funding should not be at the expense of existing and extra pension savings.

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Research, PLSA said: “In its first full week in charge, it is pleasing that the new Government has signalled its intention to put the more than £2 trillion of people’s retirement savings at the top of its agenda.

“Workplace pensions are a vital part of the UK economy, providing an essential retirement income for millions of workers and driving growth. The Pension Schemes Bill will help people plan for retirement by the introduction of a Pensions Dashboard and help protect their savings by giving more powers to the Pensions Regulator. However, it is important that the Pensions Dashboard is designed in a way that supports retirement planning without exposing savers to the risk of poor decision-making or scams. And it is also essential that the Pensions Regulator’s new powers are targeted at the very small minority of sponsors that seek to avoid their funding obligations and not at the wider community of pension trustees and advisers.”

ENDS

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

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