Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve pension replacement rates.

Our system of state, private and workplace pensions provide the basis for security in retirement. The State Pension provides a foundation to support people’s individual savings for retirement. The Government has made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which means annual spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion over this Parliament. This will see pensioners’ yearly incomes being up to £1,900 higher.

Automatic Enrolment (AE) has succeeded in transforming workplace retirement saving. Over 11 million employees have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. However, we know we need to do more to build on the success of AE.

The government will soon be launching the next phase of the Pensions Review, which will focus on improving pensions outcomes.