Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 7
Fifth report: Protecting pension savers—five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams
Published 28 Mar 2021
Paragraph 34
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Many victims of pension scams never report that they have been scammed. Others report a long time after it has taken place. Scam victims reasonably expect that, when they make a report to Action Fraud, it will be acted upon. They are understandably left disillusioned when this does not happen. A 2019 investigation by the Times found serious failings at Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Representatives of Action Fraud were able to speak positively about improvements made to the service since 2019, but there is a long way to go before it can regain the faith of victims and the wider public. We recommend that Action Fraud should be accountable to Project Bloom, or any successor organisation, for its work on pension scams. A failure to manage victims’ expectations, an investigation by the Times and a lack of action on cases has left Action Fraud with a tattered reputation. The City of London Police should make annual reports to Parliament on efforts to repair it.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Fifth report: Protecting pension savers—five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams (HC 648), paragraph 34, 28 March 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 July 2021 (deadline 28 May 2021).
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, says it takes the recommendations "very seriously", and states it has "agreed with many of the recommendations from the outset" while it will "continue to look closely at the remaining recommendations".
- On the red and amber flag system for pension transfers, the Government agrees that the policy should be reviewed and that the flags' suitability forms part of that review, but "cannot" guarantee any legislative changes could be made "during this Parliament".
- It does not agree that inclusion on the FCA warning list should itself be a red flag, saying the Pension Schemes Act 2021 does not give powers "to use a third parties list or determination".
- It declines additional reporting by the City of London Police to Parliament on Action Fraud, saying it is "unnecessary" and oversight "should remain with the Government".
- The Government is "committed to publishing a comprehensive Fraud Action Plan after this year's Spending Review", but "cannot commit" to publishing details of its coordination with the Treasury.