Call for Evidence - Pensions

Monday 31st January 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)]

Today the Government will publish their call for evidence on regulatory differences between trust-based occupational pension schemes and contract-based workplace personal pension schemes. We want to hear about areas where the existing rules or requirements appear to be at odds with our aim of getting people saving in a workplace pension. We do not want to see instances of regulatory differences being exploited.

In particular we are interested in views and evidence concerning the use of short service refunds and disclosure of information, which provide a valuable administrative easement for many occupational schemes but need to be considered carefully against the potential risk to the success of the workplace pension reforms.

Automatic enrolment will play a major part in reinvigorating the pensions landscape, bringing millions of individuals into pension saving. We need to make sure that the legislative framework for workplace pension schemes is straightforward and supports our goals of increasing individuals’ retirement savings.

The Government will respond to the call for evidence in the autumn, outlining the actions we intend to take in response to the evidence presented.

A copy of the call for evidence document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, and is available on the Department’s website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations.