Commenting on what we’d like the new Pensions Secretary and Pension Minister to think about as they take up their posts, Chris Noon, Partner, Hymans Robertson said:

“The current pension tax relief ‘mess’ is simply not sustainable and we’d like to see a fundamental review of long-term saving incentives that genuinely encourages all individuals to save for retirement and long-term care. The implementation of a sliding scale of annual allowance that tapers from £40,000 at £150,000 of earnings to £10,000 for those who earn more than £210,000 has boosted government finances. However, the taper is a huge disincentive for pension saving for high earners, and their employers, who are being paralysed by the complexity of the system.  This needs simplification.

Highlighting the Triple Lock and state pension changes, Noon added:

“Hopefully the new incumbents at the DWP will also address the hopes of pensioners by not implementing the manifesto pledge and instead leaving the Triple Lock in place for the foreseeable future.  The Government’s own figures show that the State Pension changes introduced in April 2016 have reduced the long-term costs of the State Pension by £8bn a year including the cost of the Triple Lock. Moving to a “Double Lock” will be the equivalent of a £250 a year reduction in State Pension and will have the most significant impact on low and middle-earners who rely on it most.

On DB pensions he said:

“We also hope they take a sensible approach to the regulation of Defined Benefit (DB) pensions. The impact of BHS is still being widely felt across the DB world and the message of protecting pensions from unscrupulous bosses is certainly one that is welcomed. However, in reality behaviour like this isn’t an everyday occurrence. Introducing legislation as forceful as that promised in the Conservative manifesto with the current minority government situation will be incredibly difficult.”