Govt refuses to rule out auto-enrolment delay
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The Government has refused to rule out further delays to auto-enrolment timescales or fundamental changes to the National Employment Savings Trust as it launches a three month review of the reforms.
Speaking at a stakeholder and press briefing in Westminster this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and pensions minister Steve Webb (pictured) insisted they were committed to auto-enrolment but believed an independent review was necessary to determine how to make it work in practice.
The Government has enlisted the help of three pensions experts - Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Legal & General’s Adrian Boulding and EEF head of employment policy David Yeandle - who will report back at the end of September.
When asked by Money Marketing whether the review would further delay current auto-enrolment timescales, Webb said: “The timescale for the review is specifically quick.
“In the previous Government’s signing of the contract for the administration of Nest there was a break built in available to us in the autumn. What we want to do is either carry on full pelt and go for it, if that is what the review recommends, or if the review recommends changes to get on with them.
“We regard getting people into workplace pensions schemes as something we want to get on with, we do not want to bring further delay which is why the review is three-months.
“But we want to make auto-enrolment work, if Nest is the best way to do it that is what will happen, if the review team comes back and says we should change it we will change it.”
Webb said there would not be a consultation on the panel’s findings as the review itself will be a consultative process.
The review will look at how different types of employees will be covered by auto-enrolment and different types of firms. It will also look at how quickly any reforms will tackle pensioner poverty.
Webb added: “We want to make sure auto-enrolment is a policy and an infrastructure that will stay in place for decades so spending a few months over the summer making sure we have got it right is time well spent.
“We have chosen our team because of their expertise. But they are also going to go out and talk to people so we are getting the full perspective of everybody who has a stake in this important decision.
“We have asked the review team to find the best way to increase private pension saving to get the best balance between the cost and benefits for individuals and employers.
“It may be that they come back and say the policy we inherited is fit for purpose or advise that changes need to be made. Either way we will listen and we will act.”
Consumer groups have critisised the lack of a union or consumer voice on the panel.
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