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1538931

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK pension funds of the fall of the Hang Seng Index.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL3135
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2022 answer text <p>UK pension schemes investment in Asian markets, and therefore exposure to the fall of the Hang Seng index, is low. Overall, our UK Pension schemes operate over very long timescales and have balanced and diversified investment strategies. They are therefore well placed to navigate any periods of volatility in global markets.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 16/11/2022 14:13:16 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1535736

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances a man's pension that is subject to a Section 32 buyout policy will not pay out until the age of 65; and for what reasons there are restrictions on pensions subject to a buyout policy.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Sir Stephen Timms
	uin	70946
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2022 answer text <p>A Section 32 buy-out policy is an individual contract between an individual and usually an insurance company, purchased using funds transferred from an occupational pension scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Such a contract can and may pay out before the age of 65 for a man. However, a Section 32 policy may contain a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP), and where it does, it must, as a minimum, pay a GMP from age 65 for a man or 60 for a woman, regardless of investment performance. Where there are insufficient funds to pay additional benefits, a Section 32 policy may therefore pay out only the GMP from these ages. This is a valuable guarantee, as it means that a person’s retirement income cannot decline below the amount of the GMP.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Laura Trott question first answered 31/10/2022 17:12:20 answering member 4780 label Biography information for Laura Trott
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1524061

	registered interest
	date	19/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of pensions payments in future years.
	tabling member constituency	Reading East
	tabling member printed	Matt Rodda
	uin	67191
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2022 answer text <p>The new State Pension was introduced in 2016 and was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women, self-employed people and lower paid workers. It forms a clear foundation for individuals alongside workplace and private savings to provide for the retirement they want. Together, the new State Pension and Automatic Enrolment into workplace pensions provides a more inclusive system that supports retirement saving for the long term.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 24/10/2022 15:17:59 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4654 label Biography information for Matt Rodda

1464841

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what data is (1) collected, and (2) published, relating to trust-based pension (a) Defined Contribution schemes, or (b) MasterTrust schemes, in any year since 2015, to show how many people have accessed their pension funds; and whether they purchased an (i) annuity, (ii) income drawdown, (iii) uncrystallised pension fund lump sum, or (iv) withdrew funds in full.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL393
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2022 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish data on their website, based on what is reported to them, on the number of flexible payments made from pensions, the number of individuals who have received these flexible payments and the total value of all flexible payments. As this includes all flexible pension payments, the data represents a proportion of payments made from trust-based Defined Contribution (DC) schemes as well as contract-based schemes. As of December 2021, 1.9 million individuals have taken 16.0 million flexible payments from their DC pensions since the introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2015.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR) publishes data on their website from trust-based DC schemes on an annual basis. This publication provides a high-level snapshot of the current landscape of occupational DC trust-based pension provision in the UK, including information on the number, memberships, and assets of schemes. The most recent publication is TPR’s 12<sup>th</sup> edition, DC Trust: scheme return data 2021 to 2022, which includes data captured since 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Included in this, they report the number of members for whom each scheme is directly providing (self-annuitisation) or facilitating (lifetime annuities) annuity payments. At the end of 2021, there were 1,000 memberships receiving lifetime annuities, excluding hybrid schemes (which have a mixture of guarantees and investments), and less than 1000 memberships receiving self-annuitisations, also excluding hybrid schemes. Number of memberships, or number of pension pots, does not equate to number of individuals, as many people are members of more than one pension scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The data in this publication from TPR does not capture all pensioner members, as some members will have retired but transferred out of their scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Members who transfer out of a trust-based DC scheme and access their pension savings via a contract-based provider will be included in the data collected by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and published in their Retirement Income Market Data. However, data is not currently collected on volumes of members that transfer out of trust-based DC schemes with the intention of accessing their savings. The FCA data shows that from October 2015- March 2021, over 3.3 million DC pots have been accessed in the contract-based market. This data is presented in Table 1 and can be found on the FCA webpage: Retirement income market data 2020/21. This data is also provided broken down by year in Annex A.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Table 1: Volumes and proportion of retirement income products, October 2015- March 2021 (FCA Retirement Income Data)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Product</p></td><td><p>Total volume</p></td><td><p>Proportion of all pots accessed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Annuities purchased in period</p></td><td><p>390,697</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>New drawdown policies entered and not fully withdrawn in period</p></td><td><p>993,033</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pots where first partial UFPLS payment taken and not fully withdrawn in period</p></td><td><p>130,247</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Full cash withdrawals from pots being accessed for first time in period</p></td><td><p>1,831,982</p></td><td><p>55%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total pots accessed for the first time</p></td><td><p>3,345,960</p></td><td><p>100%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>*Volumes prior to April 2018 were drawn from a representative sample of firms. The FCA started collecting data from all regulated firms providing retirement income products from 1 April 2018.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 07/06/2022 15:37:59 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1463990

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is taking steps to bring forward initiatives to assist people in understanding their pensions.
	tabling member constituency	Hendon
	tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
	uin	4550
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently introducing several initiatives to assist people in understanding their pensions.</p><p> </p><p>The Stronger Nudge to pensions guidance regulations, coming in to force on 1<sup>st</sup> June 2022, ensure no-one will be able to access their savings through pension freedoms without having received Pension Wise guidance or opted out. As part of this, schemes will offer to book of a Pension Wise appointment for the member as part of the application process, removing the inertia introduced by members having to book their own appointment.</p><p> </p><p>From October this year, new regulations come into force that require defined contribution schemes used for automatic enrolment to send simpler, 2-page maximum, statements to members. These short, simpler statements will give savers the key information they need to be able to better engage with and understand their pensions. They will help people plan for the retirement they want.</p><p> </p><p>DWP published a consultation on the draft regulations for Pensions Dashboards, which closed on 13 March 2022. Following publication of its response, expected this summer, the department will lay regulations for dashboards when parliamentary time allows. Pensions dashboards can help make accessing pensions information easier by empowering people to see what they have in their various pensions, including their State Pension, at the touch of a button on their smartphone, laptop or computer at home. This will put the saver in control and help reconnect people with their lost pension pots, transforming how people think and plan for their retirement.</p><p /> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/05/2022 11:16:35 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1436915

	registered interest
	date	01/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there are legal barriers to pension schemes providing a range of contribution and benefit options to beneficiaries in order to maintain uptake of the pension scheme.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	132302
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2022 answer text <p>Employers are responsible for choosing a pension scheme that is suitable for them and their employees. There are minimum standards for automatic enrolment and requirements for equal treatment – but there is scope for a huge variety of scheme design in the pensions market, in terms of structuring contributions and benefits offered.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 07/03/2022 14:31:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1436621

	registered interest
	date	28/02/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to encourage early re-evaluations of pension schemes in response to rising inflation and rising costs of living.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	131234
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2022 answer text <p>The Department does not assess the funding of individual defined benefit pension schemes. Trustees are required to undertake actuarial valuations at least every three years and agree an appropriate recovery plan where there is a funding deficit. Trustees can undertake valuations more frequently to assess a scheme’s funding position in the light of economic changes. The UK has a robust regime for the funding of defined benefit pension schemes, which effectively balances member security and employer affordability. Provisions in the Pensions Act 2021 will strengthen this regime by requiring trustees to have a funding and investment strategy to ensure pensions can be provided over the long term. The Pensions Regulator oversees the funding regime for defined benefit pension schemes and has statutory objectives to protect members’ benefits, and to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of the employer.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 131233 131235 question first answered 03/03/2022 12:47:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1436628

	registered interest
	date	28/02/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Pensions Regulator effectively balances risks in respect of the viability of pension schemes, including benefits, scheme member priorities and tackling historic deficits.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	131235
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2022 answer text <p>The Department does not assess the funding of individual defined benefit pension schemes. Trustees are required to undertake actuarial valuations at least every three years and agree an appropriate recovery plan where there is a funding deficit. Trustees can undertake valuations more frequently to assess a scheme’s funding position in the light of economic changes. The UK has a robust regime for the funding of defined benefit pension schemes, which effectively balances member security and employer affordability. Provisions in the Pensions Act 2021 will strengthen this regime by requiring trustees to have a funding and investment strategy to ensure pensions can be provided over the long term. The Pensions Regulator oversees the funding regime for defined benefit pension schemes and has statutory objectives to protect members’ benefits, and to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of the employer.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 131233 131234 question first answered 03/03/2022 12:47:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1378510

	registered interest
	date	15/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to promote a sustainable pensions industry at COP26.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield North
	tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
	uin	75161
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK leads the world on this issue. The UK was the first country in the world both to make climate disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations mandatory for occupational pensions schemes, and to consult on measures to require pension schemes to measure and report their alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. Our work on ESG is recognised worldwide. DWP are also consulting on guidance for trustees to improve stewardship and voting which will be key to ensuring high-carbon assets transition to net zero.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State played a very active role in encouraging other countries and industry to follow this precedent and to commit to TCFD/Paris aligned reporting for their pension sector at COP26. The Secretary of State also introduced a session to focus on mobilising finance to fight climate change in emerging markets and developing countries, which will be crucial in the fight against climate change.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/11/2021 14:40:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1365057

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the cost of transferring (a) workplace and (b) personal pensions overseas through a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS).
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	67229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2021 answer text <p>In the same way as transfers to UK pension schemes, a transfer to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) is covered by the requirement to take regulated financial advice if transferring more than £30,000 from a Defined Benefit scheme. This cost is a commercial matter for the firms and financial advisors who are subject to Financial Conduct Authority authorisation to conduct this activity, and who choose to provide the service.</p><p> </p><p>A transfer to a QROPS may also be subject to the overseas transfer charge (OTC). This is not a cost of transferring, it was introduced to limit the opportunities for tax avoidance so that the generous tax regimes of the UK and the tax rules of other countries cannot be manipulated to provide more relief than was intended. Whilst the Government keeps all policy under review there are no plans to make any changes to the overseas transfer charge at this time.</p><p> </p><p>Transfers to overseas schemes have been connected to pension scams in recent years and this is why HMRC requirements around QROPS were tightened in 2017. My department has been working alongside the FCA on regulations in relation to pension transfers, which aim to facilitate transfers to legitimate schemes while preventing transfers to scams.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 04/11/2021 14:25:08 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney