On the go: Two Scottish National party MPs have tabled an amendment to the pension schemes bill to set up a new pensions advisory commission.
The amendment, tabled by Neil Gray MP and Richard Thomson MP, would see the commission, established by the Pensions Regulator, report each year — starting in 2022 — on the impact of the introduction of collective defined contribution schemes and pensions dashboards in the UK, alongside the effectiveness of TPR’s new powers.
The commission should include members of the regulator, alongside five other individuals appointed after a recommendation by the secretary of state.
The commission members would analyse the impact of CDC and dashboards on people in different parts and regions of the UK, the equal treatment of men and women in access to pension provision, and on persons with a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, the amendment read.
The two SNP MPs are also proposing that commercial companies are blocked from operating dashboards until a publicly run service, launched by the Money and Pensions Service, has been running and tested for five years.
The first amendment in this area had been introduced in the House of Lords, with an initial wait period of one year. However, pensions minister Guy Opperman has moved to reverse this amendment, which would mean that commercial dashboards could run at the same time as the government-backed project.
Considering the extension of the waiting period to five years, Mr Gray and Mr Thomson are proposing that the pensions commission also reports by October 31 2021 “on when commercial operators should be able to enter the market for provision of a pensions dashboard service”, the amendment read.
The idea of reviving a pensions commission is not new, with Mr Opperman himself suggesting in June 2019 that the government could back a new independent pensions commission to address a whole host of retirement issues.
The last Pensions Commission, chaired by Adair Turner, was set up by the government in 2002 and issued two reports in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
That commission was responsible for looking at how the pensions system was developing and for making recommendations on whether the system should be reformed.
The pension schemes bill will enter committee stage at the House of Commons on November 3.
