Protecting pension savers – five years on from the Pension Freedoms: Accessing pension savings

Work and Pensions Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 23 Feb 2021 Closed: 21 Oct 2022 Parliament page
This inquiry is looking at how savers are prepared and protected to move from saving for retirement to using their pension savings. This is the second of our three-part inquiry, looking at decisions make about accessing their pensions. We concluded taking evidence on our first part, pension scams, in January … Read more
24 Recommendations
9 Conclusions
1 Report
5 Oral sessions
3 Letters
5 Events
Activity timeline 10 events
6 Jul
2022
Correspondence
27 Apr
2022
Report published
18 Jan
2022
Report published
2 Dec
2021
Correspondence
24 Nov
2021
Correspondence
8 Nov
2021
Oral evidence
25 Oct
2021
Oral evidence
22 Sep
2021
Oral evidence
21 Jul
2021
Oral evidence
16 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
8 Nov 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Anna Harvey · HM Treasury Guy Opperman · Department for Work and Pensions John Glen · HM Treasury Pete Searle · Department for Work and Pensions
25 Oct 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Angela Gough · Royal Mail David Pitt-Watson · Cambridge University Simon Eagle · Institute and Faculty of Actuaries The Baroness Altmann CBE
22 Sep 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Alex Connolly · Money and Pensions Service Carolyn Jones · Money and Pensions Service Chris Curry · Money and Pensions Service David Fairs · The Pensions Regulator Sarah Pritchard · The Financial Conduct Authority
21 Jul 2021
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Protecting pension savers –five years on from the Pension Freedoms: Accessing pension savings
Colin Clarke · Legal and General Laura Myers · Lane, Clark & Peacock Matthew Arends · Aon Peter Glancy · Scottish Widows Philip Brown · B&CE, the People’s Pension Rachel Vahey · AJ Bell Stephen Lowe · Just Group
16 Jun 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Chris Brooks · Age UK Dr Julia Mundy · Financial Services Consumer Panel Joe Dabrowski · Pension and Lifetime Savings Association Laurie Edmans · Financial Inclusion Commission Paul McBride · The Society of Pension Professionals Renny Biggins · The Investing and Saving Alliance Tess Page · Association of Consulting Actuaries Yvonne Braun · ABI
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth report - Protecting pension savers—five years on from the … HC 237 18 Jan 2022 33 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
7 results
Clear
3 Conclusion Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
The Minister for Pensions told us that the Department for Work and Pensions is trying...
The Minister for Pensions told us that the Department for Work and Pensions is trying to make pensions simpler. We support this principle. But simplicity alone is not enough to improve outcomes for savers. The Government and regulators will either … Read more
Government Response
The government is deferring the response to MaPS and the FCA.
Department for Work and Pensions
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6 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
Many more people than currently do, however, would benefit from making greater use of the...
Many more people than currently do, however, would benefit from making greater use of the pension freedoms by choosing a mix of annuities, lump sums and drawdown Protecting pension savers—five years on from the Pension Freedomss Accessing pension savings 61 … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the FCA will be responding to the recommendation separately.
Department for Work and Pensions
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8 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
We recommend that the Money and Pensions Service and the Financial Conduct Authority should develop...
We recommend that the Money and Pensions Service and the Financial Conduct Authority should develop proposals to increase the number of people choosing a mix of retirement products—including cash, drawdown and deferred annuities—to meet their changing needs at different stages … Read more
Government Response
The DWP intends to issue a call for evidence in May 2022 to inform whether policy interventions are necessary to support savers in occupational pension schemes, before considering introducing default retirement pathways.
Department for Work and Pensions
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9 Conclusion Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 enabled collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes, which provide retirement incomes...
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 enabled collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes, which provide retirement incomes from a collective fund. The income from the fund received by members varies depending on how the fund performs. There is demand for the further … Read more
Government Response
The FCA will be responding to this recommendation separately.
Department for Work and Pensions
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12 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
For CDC schemes to provide a realistic alternative to annuities, people with defined contribution pension...
For CDC schemes to provide a realistic alternative to annuities, people with defined contribution pension pots need the option to be able to transfer to decumulation- only CDC schemes. In future these may be available through master-trusts regulated by the … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider the recommendation in more detail, noting a Pensions Policy Institute DC data project and ongoing consultation on Pensions Dashboards Regulations, but does not commit to any specific action at this time.
Department for Work and Pensions
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15 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
There is a charge cap for savers who default to a scheme through auto-enrolment.
There is a charge cap for savers who default to a scheme through auto-enrolment. We recommend that there should be a similar charge cap for non-advised savers choosing a decumulation product through investment pathways. The Financial Conduct Authority should report … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the FCA will be responding to this recommendation separately.
Department for Work and Pensions
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19 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth report - Protecting pension …
Advice is a personalised recommendation that can only be provided by a regulated firm at...
Advice is a personalised recommendation that can only be provided by a regulated firm at a cost. Few people seem to be willing to pay for financial advice for the decisions they make about their pension savings—even though doing so … Read more
Government Response
The government defers action on reporting annually on progress to increase the uptake of pensions advice, stating that transactions should not be enabled on dashboards initially and future enhancements to dashboards functionality should be decided after the initial offer has been tested with users.
Department for Work and Pensions
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Government Response AI assessment · 33 of 24 classified
Accepted 6
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 13
Deferred 7
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 3
Total 24 recs + 9 conclusions
Correspondence 3 letters
6 Jul 2022 Correspondence from Money and Pension Service about the Committee’s Report on accessing pension savings
Parliament page
2 Dec 2021 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Pensions and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, following the evidence session on 8 November
Parliament page
24 Nov 2021 Correspondence with FCA and TPR following up on the 22 September evidence session – Accessing pension savings
Parliament page