Disappointment as pensions omitted from King’s Speech

Financial services commentators have expressed disappointment after pensions were omitted from the King’s Speech yesterday (7 November).

During the speech, 16 out of 21 bills were mentioned. However, out of the five that the King did not speak about, a Pensions Bill was not one of them.

Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron said: “We’re disappointed that the government didn’t include a Pensions Bill in today’s King’s Speech.

“This is likely to be the last parliamentary session before the General Election, and the current government has been consulting on a long list of initiatives. In the absence of a Pensions Bill, other routes will need to be found to advance these.”

Cameron believes this now puts renewed attention on Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement.

In September, the government has confirmed this year’s Autumn Statement will take place on 22 November, with the pledge to half inflation being the main focus.

AJ Bell head of retirement policy Tom Selby on the morning of the speech predicted that it would “confirm key elements of the government’s so-called ‘Mansion House’ reforms, a sprawling package of measures focused on people’s workplace pensions with two central aims: to increase scale and encourage these schemes to invest more of members’ money in private equity.”

The ‘Mansion House’ reforms also included proposals to encourage consolidation of small pension pots.

AJ Bell head of policy development Rachel Vahey added: “It was a surprise the Mansion House reforms, announced with such fanfare by the chancellor earlier this year, did not feature in the King’s Speech yesterday.

“This does not mean the reforms have been shelved, but it does raise questions over exactly how they will be implemented.

“It may be that the government feels regulatory interventions and secondary legislation are sufficient to deliver the key tenants of those plans.

“But this approach could mean not getting everything ticked off the government’s shopping list, and some ideas might have to be dropped.

Vahey agreed with Cameron and said: “Given how much stock the government has set in those Mansion House proposals, you would expect to see more details on implementation imminently – potentially in the Autumn Statement later this month.”

Cameron believes the government still sees pensions as a priority and is awaiting clarity on it and “encourages the government to prioritise those initiatives with the greatest potential to boost retirement outcomes of individual members.”

PensionBee director of public affairs Becky O’Connor said: “The omission of the Pension Reform Bill in the King’s Speech implies that Chancellor Hunt’s Mansion House proposals might set the direction of travel but lack a substantial commitment to how these changes will be made in reality.

“Following the upcoming general election, the incoming government will encounter a myriad of crucial decisions, where neglecting attention to pensions poses the danger of leaving pivotal reform issues unaddressed, perpetuating a stage of limbo in pension policies.”