Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
This Committee previously recommended, in 2011, that HM Treasury should work with employers and pension...
Conclusion
This Committee previously recommended, in 2011, that HM Treasury should work with employers and pension schemes to ensure that clear and relevant information is provided to employees on the value of their pensions, and that this information is regularly updated and its usefulness to staff assessed.41 Despite this, we have seen little evidence of progress in ensuring that people understand the value of their pensions: HM Treasury told us it recognises that more needs to be done.42 HM Treasury agreed that part of the problem lies in education, and making sure that people understand how pensions work generally. Recent initiatives may help. For example, the Ministry of Defence has considered introducing more specific information on pay slips about the employee and employer contributions to better communicate their value to the scheme members.43
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2022 3.2 Participation in the main public service pension schemes are very high. For example, less than 1% of the active Civil Service population has currently opted out of the Civil Service Pension Scheme. 3.3 Data on participation rates in public service pension schemes are collected and held at scheme level and shared with HM Treasury. This is appropriate given that departments are responsible for schemes and controlling membership data. If participation rates change significantly, departments are expected to raise this with HM Treasury and implement appropriate mitigation measures. For example, some departments have implemented exit surveys to understand why employees have opted-out of their pension scheme. 3.4 HM Treasury will commission departments for analysis of latest participation data and will work with departments to standardise data collection, including whether data can be broken down by member characteristics. HM Treasury will also ask departments to provide an update on the measures being taken to improve participation among specific groups, which will be used to inform ongoing work by HM Treasury and departments to promote the value of public service pensions among employees. Departments should also continue to provide HM Treasury with participation data on a regular basis for monitoring purposes. 3.5 Public service pension schemes provide members with generous benefits in retirement. As participation rates in these schemes remain high, HM Treasury does not believe that participation levels will have a significant impact on wider public expenditure. However, HM Treasury will keep this under review.