The future of pensions policy: MP questions Minister on pension credit, automatic enrolment and more

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On Tuesday 8 December, Rob Roberts MP led a Westminster Hall debate on the future of pensions policy. We asked him why he spoke on the topic:

“As a former financial planner, I am very aware of how important pensions are in everyone’s lives, and how easily they can be overlooked. Positive debates on the future directions for pension policy are important for everyone so that we can ensure that people get the retirement they deserve.”

During the debate he covered a wide range of issues including pension credit and auto-enrolment.

Pension credit:

“Around four in every 10 eligible pensioners are not collecting the free money that is due to them. That means that, at present, around £3.5 billion that is allocated to eradicating pensioner poverty is not reaching older people each year.”

Auto enrolment:

“Instead of engaging the wider public in taking an active role in their workplace pensions, being auto-enrolled has meant that the vast majority of savers assume they will automatically have a large pension pot when they retire. However, that is often not the case, and we have added a layer of what I will call complacency risk into the mix of other issues to consider.”

A Minister for Work and Pensions, Guy Opperman MP responded to the points raised:

“The state pension has gone up by £1,900 in real terms since 2010, thanks to the triple lock and various other measures, and we are in a position that material deprivation for pensioners has fallen from 10% to 6% in 2018-19. Average pensioner incomes have grown significantly in real terms over the past two decades. Average weekly income in 1994-95 was £165 a week at 2018-19 prices, after housing costs, compared with £320 a week in 2018-19.”

Pension credit:

“We had a nationwide campaign in spring last year to boost pension credit. We also have the online pension credit claim facility, ensuring ease of access for anyone wishing to make a claim… following a cross-party meeting with the House of Lords, we have reached out to the BBC and to Tim Davie, its new chief executive, to see whether the BBC can do anything to improve and expand on that particular process.”

Auto enrolment:

“Automatic enrolment has ensured that the participation of private-sector eligible women has increased from 40% to 86%. That is equal to men, I should say. For private-sector eligible 22 to 29-year-olds, it has gone up from 24% to 85%. In 2019-20, working people will save an extra £18 billion into workplace pensions as a result of those reforms.”

Read the debate transcript

Watch the debate

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