Kathryn Fleming, Partner, Hymans Robertson said: “The updated recommendations published today from the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee feels like a fairly bleak response from the Government. It makes sense that the Committee has recommended that the first step in tackling the gender pensions gap is to agree a definition of what it is. However, it is disappointing that once again there is a notable absence of any timeframe from the Government to commit to reaching agreement on this definition. If this is the catalyst that will drive change, this omission supports the strong sense that this is being passed back to individuals, employers and the industry to deal with in the medium term.
“The Government’s response to the auto-enrolment carers credit, which could potentially help reduced the gender pensions gap, actually sidesteps any responsibility to support those who are not working due to performing a carers role. Auto enrolment will not fix the pensions equality gap if there is not an employer to enrol these individuals into a pension scheme, even if the 2017 report recommendations do flow through. To say that the Government will “continue to prompt people to engage with their pensions” is missing the point; these carers do not have personal pensions to engage with.
“Regarding the increased role for Pensions Wise, recommendation 19, on the one hand the Government is accepting that inertia has been one of the main drivers behind the success of auto enrolment. However, by deciding not to pursue a trial of automatically booking Pension Wise appointments, the Government is backing away from this inertia as a force for good. If Pension Wise is indeed having a positive impact on the members that do make use of the appointments, then surely exploring a trial of how to get members get in front of them has to be a sensible concept to explore.”
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