Patrick Bloomfield, Partner, Hymans Robertson says: “Now that we learn that Alex Burghart has been appointed as the Minister of Pensions and Growth we look forward to working with him in his new role. He enters this post at a worrying time, with Bank of England’s emergency bond buying scheme concluding within days. Further challenges await the new minister with the current cost of living crisis continuing to grow, but we believe there is an opportunity to make a strong and committed start to his role, through learning about how policy decisions impact the end user and listening to industry concerns about existing policies.
“Clarity on timing for key regulatory changes such as Triple Lock, the pension dashboard and the DB Funding Code would be much welcomed by many, and a strong sign of the new Ministers commitment to pensions as they begin their new term in office. We urge the incoming Pensions Minister to listen to industry concerns about implementation of existing policies. Pensions dashboard roll-out and DB funding regulations need an urgent rethink so their introduction achieves the long-term policy goals without unintended short-term consequences. We are also keen to hear his response on the Work and Pensions Committee’s recommendations on solving the gender pensions gap.”
Philip Smith, DC Director at TPT Retirement Solutions, said: "One of the most pressing priorities for Alex Burghart as the new Minister for Pensions and Growth will be ensuring the Pensions Dashboard programme is successfully rolled out. Once up and running, the Dashboard could transform how people engage with their pensions, but large IT projects often have teething problems.
“Another priority for the Minister will be helping the industry to navigate the challenging economic conditions with rapidly rising inflation. The cost of living crisis threatens to seriously reduce pension savings amongst low earners, while also putting pressure on scheme running costs.
“Finally, reforms of automatic enrolment will be needed in the next few years to ensure more people build up their savings for retirement. Auto-enrolment has been incredibly successful in helping people to grow their pension pots, but those aged under 22 and those in part-time work are currently missing out. Raising minimum contribution levels would also lead to a substantial increase in pension savings of millions of workers. However, the cost of this reform may mean that it has to wait until the economic outlook has improved."
Tim Middleton, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the Pensions Management Institute, comments: “As incoming Minister for Pensions and Growth, Alex Burghart will have a particularly challenging brief. The single greatest task will be the successful roll-out of the dashboard. However, other important challenges will come from the development of CDC and the impact of the Cost of Living crisis on pension saving. Funding for Defined Benefit schemes remains a long-term issue. We are also waiting for the reforms to automatic enrolment, which will play a major part in improving pension saving over the middle years of this century. We welcome the appointment of the new Minister, and look forward to an opportunity for an early meeting to discuss the challenges ahead.”
Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon, comments: “We welcome the appointment of Alex Burghart as the new Minister for Pensions and Growth and look forward to working with him.
“He will have a lot on his plate and many issues vying for attention, including providing reassurance to savers in these current tumultuous times. Pension policy has been a hive of activity in recent years, and there’s still much unfinished business. The new Pensions Minister will bring fresh thinking and new ideas to an already busy ‘to do’ list. Top priorities for the new Minister include getting pension dashboards over the line, continued focus on raising pension awareness, introducing a plan to implement the recommendations of the 2017 review of auto-enrolment, finding pension solutions for the self-employed, progressing with the proposed Value of Money framework, and working across government and regulators to better support pension savers with retirement decision making.
“It's important the new Pension Minister works closely with the Treasury on any review of pension tax allowances, specifically the lifetime allowance and money purchase annual allowance to enable and incentive pension savings.”
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