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1367445

registered interest
date	09/11/2021
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the announcement of 8 November 2021 on preventing pension scams, what estimate she has made of the impact on the number of referrals to MoneyHelper for mandatory guidance once the new rules come into force; and whether additional resources have been allocated to MoneyHelper for that purpose.
tabling member constituency	North East Fife
tabling member printed	Wendy Chamberlain
uin	72597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2021 answer text <p>The legislation will fully come into force on the 30 November. We anticipate that accurate data will become available after this point. It is the Departments intention to monitor the volumes of referrals to MoneyHelper and include this in the review of the regulations I have committed to carry out within 18 months of them coming into force having worked closely with the Money and Pension Service.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 16/11/2021 15:52:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4765 label Biography information for Wendy Chamberlain

1300043

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps she has taken to strengthen protections for pension savers.
tabling member constituency	Bury South
tabling member printed	Christian Wakeford
uin	913014
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding pension savings. <br></p><p />The Pension Schemes Act 2021, notably Section 125, will strengthen rules around pension transfers and<br />introduce new criminal offences for unscrupulous employers who mismanage schemes. These measures will protect savers in Bury South and across the United Kingdom<p /><p /><p>Many pension scams are initiated and perpetuated online, and that is why I am meeting with Google on 10 March to explore what action is being taken against online pension fraud<br>and persuade them to stop fraudsters using their site.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/03/2021 16:23:59 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4871 label Biography information for Christian Wakeford

1258788

registered interest
date	07/12/2020
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: Fraud
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 will take to protect consumers from proceeding with fraudulent online pension transfers.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	126051
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2020 answer text <p>Government is committed to safeguarding the savings of consumers based in the UK and people living overseas with UK based savings. Although the majority of transfers are to safe destinations there are still fraudsters who try to entice individuals to transfer to schemes for the purposes of relieving them of their pension savings.</p><p> </p><p>To help protect people from pension scams, clause 125 in the Pensions Schemes Bill 2020 will allow government to introduce measures to limit the statutory right to transfer. The clause achieves many things and reference is made to all the parliamentary responses on this topic for the details. However, in summary:</p><p> </p><ol><li>it introduces in legislation provisions that require members to provide evidence of an employment link or, if transferring abroad, residency before a statutory transfer can take place; and</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="2"><li>it will remove the right to transfer if certain circumstances (red flags) are identified by the trustee or scheme administrator. For other prescribed circumstances people will be required to confirm they have received information or taken guidance about the risk of scams before a transfer can proceed. We are and will continue to work with industry and regulators to identify these circumstances. This means that trustees will have the power to refuse a transfer if the red flags occur or an individual has not taken guidance. The regulator will oversee the operation of these new requirements.</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Regulators and trustees also have a broader role to play in scam prevention. The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money Advice and Pension Service issued information on 7 April pointing to the actions members should seek to take to safeguard against becoming victims of scams. Additional guidance was issued to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service, has been communicating with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media about the warning signs of a scam.</p><p> </p><p>We have adopted an approach that not only safeguards against pension scams but assists all pension savers seeking to access their pensions.</p><p> </p><p>For all pension savers aged 50 and over, in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, our aim is to support them make informed choices about their retirement income. We are therefore committed to replicating measures introduced by the FCA for contract based schemes for occupational pension schemes and requiring trustees to provide information to pensions savers from the age of 50, in a simpler format, to encourage savers to think about their retirement savings, choices and raise awareness of Pension Wise.</p><p> </p><p>We want to encourage savers to take appropriate guidance via Pension Wise when they apply to access savings. We want to present taking guidance or advice as a natural part of the journey when individuals access their pension savings. We are working with the FCA on rules that would require managers of private pension schemes to Introduce parallel provisions.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings and continues to raise public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Pensions Dashboards will help more people actively manage their pension savings and plan for their retirement, and this will include making decisions about pension consolidation, particularly for deferred defined contribution pots. Initial dashboards will enable a user to find and view their pension savings in one place. Future functionality will be informed by user research and testing, and consumer protection will be a primary concern in this decision making.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 126052 question first answered 10/12/2020 14:39:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1258789

registered interest
date	07/12/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what powers she will give to regulators and trustees to allow them to override the individual’s statutory right to transfer their pension in the event of a suspected scam.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	126052
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2020 answer text <p>Government is committed to safeguarding the savings of consumers based in the UK and people living overseas with UK based savings. Although the majority of transfers are to safe destinations there are still fraudsters who try to entice individuals to transfer to schemes for the purposes of relieving them of their pension savings.</p><p> </p><p>To help protect people from pension scams, clause 125 in the Pensions Schemes Bill 2020 will allow government to introduce measures to limit the statutory right to transfer. The clause achieves many things and reference is made to all the parliamentary responses on this topic for the details. However, in summary:</p><p> </p><ol><li>it introduces in legislation provisions that require members to provide evidence of an employment link or, if transferring abroad, residency before a statutory transfer can take place; and</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="2"><li>it will remove the right to transfer if certain circumstances (red flags) are identified by the trustee or scheme administrator. For other prescribed circumstances people will be required to confirm they have received information or taken guidance about the risk of scams before a transfer can proceed. We are and will continue to work with industry and regulators to identify these circumstances. This means that trustees will have the power to refuse a transfer if the red flags occur or an individual has not taken guidance. The regulator will oversee the operation of these new requirements.</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Regulators and trustees also have a broader role to play in scam prevention. The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money Advice and Pension Service issued information on 7 April pointing to the actions members should seek to take to safeguard against becoming victims of scams. Additional guidance was issued to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service, has been communicating with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media about the warning signs of a scam.</p><p> </p><p>We have adopted an approach that not only safeguards against pension scams but assists all pension savers seeking to access their pensions.</p><p> </p><p>For all pension savers aged 50 and over, in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, our aim is to support them make informed choices about their retirement income. We are therefore committed to replicating measures introduced by the FCA for contract based schemes for occupational pension schemes and requiring trustees to provide information to pensions savers from the age of 50, in a simpler format, to encourage savers to think about their retirement savings, choices and raise awareness of Pension Wise.</p><p> </p><p>We want to encourage savers to take appropriate guidance via Pension Wise when they apply to access savings. We want to present taking guidance or advice as a natural part of the journey when individuals access their pension savings. We are working with the FCA on rules that would require managers of private pension schemes to Introduce parallel provisions.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings and continues to raise public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Pensions Dashboards will help more people actively manage their pension savings and plan for their retirement, and this will include making decisions about pension consolidation, particularly for deferred defined contribution pots. Initial dashboards will enable a user to find and view their pension savings in one place. Future functionality will be informed by user research and testing, and consumer protection will be a primary concern in this decision making.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 126051 question first answered 10/12/2020 14:39:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1258793

registered interest
date	07/12/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with technology companies and platforms on free pension reviews being offered by people seeking to commit fraud via social media to circumvent the pensions cold calling ban.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	126055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2020 answer text <p>This government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. DWP, and other departments, have introduced measures that assist all savers to understand their choices and the possible risks of the choices they make, along with legislation to protect those most vulnerable to scams. This includes the ban on cold calling, which was introduced January 2019. Further action is being taken legislatively and operationally.</p><p>To help protect people from pension scams, clause 125 in the Pension Schemes Bill is being introduced, following extensive consultation and debate. It will allow government to introduce measures to limit the statutory right to transfer.</p><p>The Bill will ensure that a range of consumer protections will apply to all pension savers, regardless of what avenue, such as online or via social media, is used by potential scammers to contact them with regards to their pension savings. The powers in this Bill will enable government in certain circumstances (red flags) to remove the statutory right to transfer. The Government is working cross department and with industry &amp; regulators to determine red flags including the use of online channels to make contact with pension savers.</p><p>The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), plays a key role in protecting the UK from cybercrime and fraud. The NCSC’s Active Cyber Defence (ACD) programme tackles cyber-attacks in an automated and scalable way, to improve national resilience. This includes a takedown service which searches for and identifies malicious websites. Where found, it removes them at source so they cannot cause further harm to the public.</p><p>To complement the ACD programme, the NCSC recently launched the Suspicious Email Reporting Service, which allows the public to flag suspicious emails to the NCSC simply by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk. They are then analysed and malicious content is taken down where found.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to raise public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations. Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year (<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a>(opens in a new tab)). Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 126053 126054 question first answered 15/12/2020 16:58:23 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1245147

registered interest
date	20/10/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of pension scams during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Wallasey
tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
uin	106219
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2020 answer text <p>DWP is working across government and with regulators to monitor and respond to any increases in transfers or pension scams. To date, this monitoring has revealed little evidence to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams across the industry as a whole as confirmed by the independent regulator. This has been confirmed by responses from industry. The Government will continue to monitor and respond to any emerging evidence.</p><p>The Government established Project Bloom, a cross-government taskforce that brings together law enforcement, government and industry to share intelligence, raise awareness of and the reporting of scams through public communication campaigns, and take enforcement action where appropriate.</p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p>The Government continues to work with Regulators and enforcement agencies to prevent scams and take appropriate action. In the period March - July 2020, 116 reports of possible pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same period in 2019.</p><p>Project Bloom has identified that the methodology of scammers is continually evolving, moving away from the traditional type of theft of peoples pensions through setting up a sham scheme, towards investment related fraud. Investment related fraud includes persuading individuals to invest in ventures that do not exist or using multiple charging structures that the member is not aware of.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/10/2020 14:05:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1245150

registered interest
date	20/10/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) contacted Action Fraud regarding potential pension scams and (b) booked a Pension Wise guidance session since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Wallasey
tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
uin	106221
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2020 answer text <p>In the period March – July 2020 116 reports of pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same period in 2019. In recognition of the potential impact of Covid-19 on individual’s pensions savings the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group, to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry. Although this is encouraging Government recognises it needs to continue to monitor and react to the changing environment.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure that people are able to fully access support and make informed decisions, a collaborative approach has been taken with the TPR, the FCA and MaPS in communicating to savers, to use Pension Wise or the Pensions Advisory Service channels for guidance before making decisions about retirement. There have been a total of 79,967 bookings for a Pension Wise guidance session between March 1<sup>st</sup>– October 20<sup>th</sup> 2020. The government is also taking action with the Pensions Schemes Bill.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/10/2020 14:02:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1245151

registered interest
date	20/10/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase public understanding of the risks of pension scams.
tabling member constituency	Wallasey
tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
uin	106222
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. The Government is raising public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p>Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year (<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a>). Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p>In addition, Government is actively monitoring the numbers of transfers and scams and preparing further policy responses. At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged of an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry.</p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p>The Pension Schemes Bill was amended by Government in the House of Lords to add to the example conditions that can be placed on the statutory right to transfer by regulations. This amendment makes it explicit that the regulations can require that in certain circumstances the member demonstrates they have taken information or guidance before the transfer can proceed to ensure they are informed of the risks.</p><p>The Government wants to support all pension savers aged 50 and over in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, to make informed choices about their retirement income, which includes making them aware of Pension Wise through communications from their pension scheme trustees. We intend introducing Single page summary and single page risk warnings from age 50 and then every 5 years until the point they access their pension savings.</p><p>The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted trials to establish different ways to encourage more people to take Pension Wise guidance before accessing their pension savings under Pension Freedoms. These trials found that a nudge developed using behavioural science principles significantly increased take-up of Pension Wise guidance among those wishing to access their pension savings under pension freedoms. The evaluation report was published in July 2020. We are working to develop the most effective and proportionate way to implement this nudge to pension guidance. We intend to publish our proposed way forward shortly.</p><p>In addition, we have banned cold calling and seek to provide and prosecute and publicise the conviction of all who commit pension scams.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 106223 question first answered 23/10/2020 14:04:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1245153

registered interest
date	20/10/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a training programme for pension and finance professionals to ensure they can more readily identify scam risks.
tabling member constituency	Wallasey
tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
uin	106223
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. The Government is raising public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p>Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year (<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a>). Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p>In addition, Government is actively monitoring the numbers of transfers and scams and preparing further policy responses. At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged of an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry.</p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p>The Pension Schemes Bill was amended by Government in the House of Lords to add to the example conditions that can be placed on the statutory right to transfer by regulations. This amendment makes it explicit that the regulations can require that in certain circumstances the member demonstrates they have taken information or guidance before the transfer can proceed to ensure they are informed of the risks.</p><p>The Government wants to support all pension savers aged 50 and over in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, to make informed choices about their retirement income, which includes making them aware of Pension Wise through communications from their pension scheme trustees. We intend introducing Single page summary and single page risk warnings from age 50 and then every 5 years until the point they access their pension savings.</p><p>The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted trials to establish different ways to encourage more people to take Pension Wise guidance before accessing their pension savings under Pension Freedoms. These trials found that a nudge developed using behavioural science principles significantly increased take-up of Pension Wise guidance among those wishing to access their pension savings under pension freedoms. The evaluation report was published in July 2020. We are working to develop the most effective and proportionate way to implement this nudge to pension guidance. We intend to publish our proposed way forward shortly.</p><p>In addition, we have banned cold calling and seek to provide and prosecute and publicise the conviction of all who commit pension scams.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 106222 question first answered 23/10/2020 14:04:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1237539

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
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: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is planning to take to increase public awareness of the risks of pension scams.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. The Government is raising public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p> </p><p>Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year (<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a>). Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Government is actively monitoring the numbers of transfers and scams and preparing further policy responses. At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged of an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Schemes Bill was amended by Government in the House of Lords to add to the example conditions that can be placed on the statutory right to transfer by regulations. This amendment makes it explicit that the regulations can require that in certain circumstances the member demonstrates they have taken information or guidance before the transfer can proceed to ensure they are informed of the risks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government wants to support all pension savers aged 50 and over in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, to make informed choices about their retirement income, which includes making them aware of Pension Wise through communications from their pension scheme trustees. We intend introducing Single page summary and single page risk warnings from age 50 and then every 5 years until the point they access their pension savings.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted trials to establish different ways to encourage more people to take Pension Wise guidance before accessing their pension savings under Pension Freedoms. These trials found that a nudge developed using behavioural science principles significantly increased take-up of Pension Wise guidance among those wishing to access their pension savings under pension freedoms. The evaluation report was published in July 2020. We are working to develop the most effective and proportionate way to implement this nudge to pension guidance. We intend to publish our proposed way forward shortly.</p><p>In addition we have banned cold calling and seek to provide and prosecute and publicise the convinction of all who comitt pension scams.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/09/2020 15:36:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray