“I would be very supportive of the suggestion of moving to a single regulator sooner rather than later.
“With both auto-enrolment and the pension freedoms at critical stages of development it makes no sense to proceed as we are. A single regulator will provide a clear focus for direct action and early intervention where necessary. We are constantly hearing from either TPR or the FCA about the need to consult one another on a range of activities. This is not only inefficient it is positively dangerous.
“A single regulator would be less confusing for consumers, would help to plug gaps in the current arrangements and provide greater consistency of treatment between trust based and contract based schemes.
“With greater foresight this should have happened before now, probably a year or more ago at the time the FCA was formed and the functions of banking and financial services regulation were separated. The fact it didn’t probably owed more to a struggle for power and influence between the two owning government departments (DWP and Treasury) than for any good operational reasons and even now the FCA will not be keen on giving up part of its patch. The time for prevaricating, however, is over and a decision needs to be made. There is too much at stake to let this drag on much longer.
“I am also generally in favour of the idea of an independent commission along the lines of the 2005/06 Turner Commission. Apart from anything else this would provide a breathing space after the recent upheavals and allow considered expert analysis of the workings of the massive changes brought in and the future direction of travel required. It is perhaps a vain hope that such a commission would be fully independent and totally unconstrained by political influences but it should be given a free rein to express views and make recommendations which hopefully a new government of whatever political persuasion would feel able to accept.
“Overall a very good report from the W&P Committee which realistically I doubt will be acted upon this side of the general election. However hopefully it will not be left to gather dust on the shelf for an indeterminate period and will be resurrected and acted upon by the new government as soon as possible thereafter”.
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