Recommendation 1

The Government has not acted on our recommendation to set a target of at least 60% for the combined use of Pension Wise and paid for advice when accessing pension pots for the first time. It also rejected our recommendation for a trial of automatic Pension Wise appointments, saying it would consider whether further interventions were needed, based on its assessment of the ‘stronger nudge.’ We remain concerned that the stronger nudge will not be enough to make take-up of Pension Wise ‘the norm’ and that neither DWP or MaPS have set metrics by which to judge its success, whether in terms of take-up of appointments or the effectiveness of the intervention. We are also concerned that a review in 2024, as suggested by the former Minister, will be too late given the time that it would take to trial and then implement any alternative solution. We recommend that by March 2023, DWP, the FCA and MaPS publish the metrics they intend to use for evaluating the stronger nudge. These should cover issues including take-up, the timing and the extent of behaviour change resulting from it. The evaluation should be completed no later than the end of July 2023. In addition, DWP should commission research to look at other initiatives trialled in the meantime, such as automatic appointments.