Pensions - Articles - Aegon comment on the approval of the Queens Speech

 Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon comments: “The news that the Queen’s Speech was passed by Parliament offers some good news, however short lived, for all those who support the underlying Bills and are hopeful they will also be passed. For those planning for their retirement years, the Bills on Pensions Schemes and Social Care offer the prospect of important new measures which we hope will win cross party support, even if points of detail may need debated.

 “But an early General Election, whatever the outcome, would mean another Queen’s Speech and Bills having to be reintroduced in the new Parliamentary Session. The most we can hope for is that rather than parliamentary paralysis, progress can be made in the meantime towards ironing out political differences on pensions and social care issues, including pension dashboards.

 “We also mustn’t forget the many other issues in the pensions field which need addressed urgently. We had hoped the now cancelled November Budget might have offered a way forward on securing tax relief for non-taxpayers in ‘net pay’ schemes and removing the adverse implications from the various lifetime and annual allowances on NHS professionals and others including the growing numbers accessing pensions flexibly. Unfortunately, progress on these looks once again to be a Brexit casualty.”

  • Pension Schemes Bill and Social Care progress likely to be held up in the event of an election
 • Budget delay means no immediate solutions to ‘net pay’ issue or pension allowance reforms