All Centre for Policy Studies articles

  • News

    Ex-chancellor calls for flat-rate pension tax relief

    2020-07-02T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Former chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid has called for a flat-rate pension tax relief as part of a wide-ranging post-Covid recovery plan published by the Centre for Policy Studies.

  • News

    Johnson lambasts billion-pound costs of LGPS

    2019-10-31T00:00:00Z

    The stellar investment returns of the Local Government Pension Scheme over the past decade may be overplayed, according to a leading expert from a right-wing think tank, who also controversially claimed that the scheme offers poor value for money.

  • News

    Traditional pensions fail millennials, finds Smarterly

    2019-10-17T00:00:00Z

    On the go: A report has questioned whether employers truly understand their employees’ financial priorities.

  • News

    UK pension system still lagging on adequacy and sustainability

    2018-10-22T00:00:00Z

    The UK pensions system has major shortcomings in its adequacy and sustainability, and could be improved by rowing back some of freedom and choice, according to research comparing retirement provision around the globe.

  • News

    More sponsors in talks with government over CDC

    2018-09-13T00:00:00Z

    A handful of corporate entities have held exploratory discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions on collective defined contribution schemes, according to DWP defined benefit strategy team leader Julian Barker.

  • News

    Michael Johnson: Replace pensions tax relief with bonuses

    2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

    In a bid to make pensions saving more progressive, the Centre for Policy Studies has recommended substituting tax relief on pensions for capped bonuses on individual and employers’ retirement contributions.

  • News

    Johnson: With-profits a better alternative to risky CDC

    2018-07-31T00:00:00Z

    Plans for collective defined contribution schemes are "a risk too far", and savers should instead be offered individual savings pots invested in with-profits funds, according to one of the architects of freedom and choice.

  • Opinion

    The freedom not to choose

    2018-04-13T00:00:00Z

    Editorial: Default options for would-be retirees are the industry’s new darling, as poor support for savers at retirement still blights the UK pension system.

  • News

    Default drawdown tops select committee's at-retirement wishlist

    2018-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Providers of drawdown products should be required to develop charge-capped default products to help disengaged savers make their pension last, the Work and Pensions Committee has recommended.

  • Features

    Slide towards retail investing faces backlash

    2017-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: March 19 2014 marked a seismic change in the UK pensions landscape: from the dispatch box in the House of Commons, future newspaper editor George Osborne announced the removal of the requirement to annuitise defined contribution savings, unlocking a world of possibility for scheme members.

  • Illustration by Ben Jennings
    Opinion

    In need of repair

    2017-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Editorial: News that the Work and Pensions Committee will scrutinise the effects of the pension freedoms cannot have surprised many.

  • News

    CPS 'auto-protection' call reignites freedoms debate

    2017-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies has highlighted the need to shield savers from financial risks in later life through the idea of “auto-protection”, with the introduction of auto-drawdown, followed by auto-annuitisation at age 80. 

  • News

    Ownership or nudge? How to make auto-escalation work

    2016-12-02T00:00:00Z

    The pensions industry and government must instil a sense of “personal ownership” over pensions in currently underprepared members if auto-enrolment is to achieve its aims, pensions minister Richard Harrington has said.

  • Opinion

    A balancing act: Will the Lisa meet its dual objectives?

    2016-05-24T00:00:00Z

    The Specialist: The Lisa’s success will depend on whether it finds investments to meet both of its goals.

  • Push-me-pull-you
    Features

    The push-me-pull-you: In which direction is UK retirement saving headed?

    2016-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: The introduction of a workplace Isa, mooted in a new proposal this week, could present both the UK workforce and employers with a radical new alternative, but how can developments in government policy drive the sea change needed in the UK’s savings culture?

  • Tim Middleton
    Opinion

    A closer look at the Lisa

    2016-04-01T00:00:00Z

    On Budget day, George Osborne announced the Lifetime Isa. It rapidly became one of the most discussed aspects of the Budget, with the response from the public generally favourable. 

  • Illustration by Ben Jennings
    Opinion

    Artificial sweetener

    2016-03-18T00:00:00Z

    Editorial: The Lifetime Isa announced in the Budget, while presented in a sweet wrapper marked 'help the young', is not easily swallowed by some, and not everyone agrees what the actual taste will be.

  • Illustration by Ben Jennings
    Opinion

    Raining blows

    2015-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Editorial: You’ve probably seen it already. The broadside delivered to the Local Government Pension Scheme by the Centre for Policy Studies’ Michael Johnson, in a letter to the FT this week.

  • Opinion

    Johnson: Pension ostriches need a shakeup

    2015-10-21T00:00:00Z

    Letter: Robert Gardner’s excellent article ’Collective response to an unprecedented problem’ screams ‘unsustainable’: something has got to give. The question is what?  

  • Bloomberg
    News

    Industry left reeling by latest pension tax proposals

    2015-07-08T00:00:00Z

    Summer Budget: Chancellor George Osborne today unveiled a green paper proposing a significant overhaul of the current pensions tax relief system, going beyond what the industry had expected and acting as a harbinger of further radical reform.