Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Conclusion 21
Third Report - Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Saving for later life
Published 30 Sep 2022
Paragraph 137
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Saving for later life All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We welcome the work being done to improve engagement and support savers in making decisions while they save, for example, through the development of pensions dashboards and the Mid-Life MoT and simpler annual benefit statements. DWP, MaPS and the FCA should continue to explore ways that savers can be supported to take control of their finances through information, education and support from pension schemes and employers. We also welcome the fact that, alongside this, initiatives are being progressed with the aim of improving outcomes for savers even if they do not engage, such as the development of a framework to help employers judge whether the scheme they have chosen for auto-enrolment represents good value for money for savers. As we said in our report on Accessing Pension Savings, there is demand for the further development of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes in future and it is right the Government continues to support this. We will return to look at these initiatives as they develop.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Third Report - Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Saving for later life (HC 126), paragraph 137, 30 September 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 23 January 2023 (deadline 30 November 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government "notes" the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation in turn, committing to implement the 2017 Automatic Enrolment Review measures while declining several proposals.
- On the 2017 Review, it remains "committed to the implementation" of its ambitions "in the mid-2020s" and aims to bring forward legislation "at a suitable opportunity and when parliamentary time allows", with a consultation on implementation.
- It declines to consult on a plan for older savers without Defined Benefit pensions, saying "We do not believe now is the right time to consult", and does not support trialling automatic Pension Wise bookings.
- It states that "a new office is necessary" is not its view: the government "does not believe that a new office is necessary" to build the evidence base on retirement adequacy.
- On the gender pensions gap, it is developing a definition and says any target "could only be considered once a suitable definition has been agreed upon".