Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 37
Fifth report: Protecting pension savers—five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams
Published 28 Mar 2021
Paragraph 148
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)
Being a victim of any fraud can be devastating. Pension scams often involve the loss of a lifetime’s savings and many of the plans people have made for their later life. Victims of pension scams suffer lifelong financial harm and potential lifelong impact on their mental wellbeing. We recommend that DWP should lead in the creation of a strategy to ensure that all pension scam victims are offered, and encouraged to take, support for both the financial harm and psychological distress caused by pension scams. Support for financial harms could be delivered through the Money and Pensions Service’s new consumer facing brand MoneyHelper when it launches in June 2021. Support for psychological distress could be delivered jointly with other Government departments to signpost relevant services.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Fifth report: Protecting pension savers—five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams (HC 648), paragraph 148, 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.