Key Facts

• The Bill delivers on manifesto commitments.
• CDC schemes will pool contributions and investments for mutual benefits.
• Pensions Regulator can issue civil penalties up to £1 million and new criminal offences carry a prison sentence of up to seven years.
• Part 4 introduces pensions dashboards, allowing individuals to view all their pension information in one place.
• The Bill includes climate change reporting requirements for pension funds.
• The Bill requires pension schemes to provide data for dashboards.
• 52 million UK adults have pensions savings involving over 40,000 schemes.
• Clause 123 introduces new provisions for scheme funding and investment management.
• Clause 124 mandates trustees and managers to consider climate change goals in risk management strategies.
• Climate-related financial disclosures will be required from occupational pension schemes.
• The Bill aims to require savers to take advice before transferring pension savings in certain circumstances.
• The clause is broad enough to cover some of the scenarios concerning potential scams.
• The Government will look carefully at any amendments proposed during Committee stage.
• The UK’s pensions industry should have confidence in the commitment to a sustainable, sufficient, and age-friendly pension system.
• Labour colleagues put climate commitments for pension funds into UK legislation.
• The Bill contains the blueprint for the long-awaited pensions dashboard.
• By March 2019, over 10 million people had been auto-enrolled in a pension scheme due to auto-enrolment.
• Auto-enrolment has been successful but some low-paid workers have faced issues with bogus firms handling their pensions.
• The Pensions Advisory Service was upgraded in 2014 to provide better advice on pension management.
• Leadsom proposes an applied practical element to the maths GCSE to educate young people about financial decisions and investments.
• The hon. Gentleman highlights the transformation of high-carbon emitting companies into renewable energy companies.
• BP's recent announcements are seen as welcome steps towards reducing its carbon footprint.
• Audit reform could provide greater focus on improving businesses' carbon footprints.
• Corporate governance changes could improve incentives for company directors to prioritise carbon reduction.
• The SNP broadly supports the Pension Schemes Bill.
• Parts 1 to 4 provide framework for collective defined-contribution schemes, powers for Pensions Regulator, pensions dashboard, and climate change reporting.
• Baroness Drake’s amendment should be protected from removal or watering down in Committee.
• Lowering auto-enrolment age threshold to 18 could bring 480,000 people into pension saving.
• The Association of British Insurers notes that £2.5 billion more could be saved with reduced lower limit for qualifying earnings band.
• Extending coverage of auto-enrolment further would benefit mostly women.
• The pensions dashboard is a key component to increase engagement.
• There are 10 million more people saving for pensions due to auto-enrolment.
• Collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes can improve pension outcomes if used correctly.
• The current auto-enrolment rate is expected to be increased in the mid-2020s.
• Ongoing consultation on illiquids and consolidation closes this week.
• Consultation specifically encourages active stewardship in managing large funds.
• Emphasis on changing behaviours rather than just implementing rules.
• Pension scams could account for between 0.5% and 12% of all transfers out of employer pension schemes over the last five years.
• Over £10 billion in pension savings may have been stolen due to scams if we take a middle figure of 5%.
• The industry group has identified three main red flags indicating potential scams: destination on FCA warning list, unregulated advice providers, and non-FCA registered operators.
• The Minister wrote to the Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee yesterday.
• A pensions ombudsman determination in 2015 allowed trustees to decline transfer requests when scams were suspected, but this was overturned by the Hughes v. Royal London court case in 2016.
• Mr R lost his £64,000 pension after transferring it to a scam scheme and received only £1,000 in compensation.
• Clause 123 of the Bill has been amended in another place with strong support from current defined-benefit schemes such as the railways and BT schemes.
• By 2024, 24% of the UK population will be over 65.
• In the speaker's constituency, 31% of the population is already over 65.
• LV= estimates a typical worker in Britain changes job every five years and can have up to 11 jobs throughout their career.
• There are around 1.6 million lost pension pots worth £19.4 billion in total, averaging about £13,000 per plan.
• It is estimated there may be as many as 50 million lost pension pots by 2050.
• In 2017, British Steel pension scheme was being reconfigured.
• Rogue financial advisers targeted steelworkers.
• Financial Ombudsman has not properly investigated unregulated introducers.
• Work and Pensions Committee concluded that steelworkers were “shamelessly bamboozled” by industry's response which was often “too little, too late.”
• The Bill aims to strengthen the powers of the Pensions Regulator for enforcement and penalties.
• The Pensions Schemes Bill aims to protect consumers and empower them with better access to pension information.
• Introduces a pensions dashboard to improve accessibility and consumer confidence in retirement planning.
• Clause 125 provides additional powers for the regulator and sanctions on employers or trustees who fail their obligations.
• Around £3 trillion is invested in UK pension schemes.
• Climate change could eliminate up to 30% of the world’s total manageable assets according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's estimate.
• In 2019, Welsh local authority pension funds had more than £1 billion invested in fossil fuels.
• Shaun Bailey supports pension dashboards in the Bill.
• The MP acknowledges that people can have up to 11 jobs in their lifetime.
• Increased penalties, sentences, and custodial sentences are proposed for scam perpetrators.
• Clause 123 of the Pension Schemes Bill is discussed.
• Defined benefit schemes account for over 20% of the UK pension sector.
• There is a suggestion that default pension funds should support Government net zero targets.
• £3 trillion is invested in UK pensions.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates climate change could wipe $43 trillion off the global economy.
• The Pension Schemes Bill aims to improve the financial future of individuals through better pensions.
• NEST charges up to 1.8% upfront and an ongoing annual charge of 0.3%, which may be high compared to current standards.
• The UK is set to become the first G7 country to bring Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures into statute.
• Clause 123 addresses funding requirements for defined benefit schemes.
• An estimated 21% of defined benefit scheme members belong to schemes still open to new members.
• The Plumbing & Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme has over 35,000 members and about 3,500 employers involved since its opening in 1975.
• Trustees currently have 72 employers to consider pursuing for payment where existing easements may not apply, with a collective liability of £7 million.
• The Bill aims to deliver on manifesto commitments and benefit public members.
• Some pension schemes still provide yearly statements, leading to information failures when sent to old addresses.
• Individuals have an average of 11 jobs throughout their career with automatic enrolment, likely resulting in nearly as many pension pots.
• Pension dashboards will help consumers get a holistic view of their retirement savings.
• In 2018, 180 people reported being victims of pension scams, losing on average £82,000 each.
• Nearly £31 million has been lost to pension scammers since 2017 according to complaints filed with Action Fraud.
• The Minister is requested for further engagement regarding a specific case involving the German Property Group (formerly Dolphin Trust).
• Clause 125 aims to strengthen consumer protection against scams.
• The Bill enables collective defined contribution schemes, supported by unions and pension providers.
• Three in five workers have no idea how much they have saved in their pension.
• More than a quarter of working age people with a pension say that they never check what is in it.
• Over 76% of people in the UK now use online banking regularly compared to just a third back in 2007.
• There is almost £20 billion in forgotten pensions.
• The Pensions Regulator's powers will be strengthened to deter reckless behaviour and introduce new civil and criminal sanctions.
• Over 10 million workers are now in an auto-enrolment scheme.
• People move jobs about 11 times on average during their career.
• There is £20 billion in lost or forgotten pension pots.
• Pension scams can cause losses of up to nearly £100,000.
• Clause 124 mandates that pension trustees consider climate change as financially material.
• The Pension Schemes Bill builds on prior work such as auto-enrolment and raising tax thresholds.
• Part 1 of the Bill includes a collective defined contribution scheme with union support.
• Part 3 aims to strengthen regulatory powers welcomed by Members from both sides of the House.
• The Bill acknowledges the increasing number of people who are members of multiple pension schemes due to job changes.
• A dashboard is estimated to help one in five people find pensions they did not know they had.
• Clause 123 addresses the treatment of open and closed defined-benefit (DB) schemes, with concerns over the risk and viability of DB open schemes making less risky investments.
• The Pensions Commission introduced auto-enrolment, benefiting 10 million more people.
• CDC schemes are aimed at around 130,000 Royal Mail employees.
• Clause 124 introduces climate change risk requirements for pension funds.
• DB schemes have 10.5 million members and £1.5 trillion under management.
• State pensions are not covered by the Bill, only occupational pension schemes.
• Automatic enrolment review aims to remove the lower earnings limit and lower age threshold in the mid-2020s.
• The Pension Regulator has brought forward an interim regime for superfunds.
• The dashboard will be designed for individual data access rather than a centralized repository.
• The Government supports Climate Change Disclosures (CDCs) in pension schemes.
• There is an ongoing small pots review working across the industry to address difficulties with understanding small pensions pots.
• Multiple dashboards are proposed to cater to different customer priorities and existing provider relationships.
• TPR has improved during the Covid period.
• There is an ongoing consultation by the regulator on a potential bespoke regime for open DB pension schemes.
• The minister met stakeholders last Friday regarding these issues.