On the go: The minister for pensions and financial inclusion has urged pension schemes to share scam data with the Pension Scams Industry Group, with the goal to get a real coverage of the issue.
Fulfilling a commitment made during a hearing with the Work and Pensions Committee in January, Guy Opperman has written to around 90 different schemes, where he asks for their support in “the fight against the criminals stealing the retirement savings of pension savers”.
During his hearing, Opperman revealed that PSIG had 50 pension organisations participating in a data-sharing project.
Since then, the industry group has been receiving a steady stream of new applications to join. However, “around 90 large schemes still do not data-share, weakening Project Bloom’s ability to tackle scams”, the Department for Work and Pensions stated.
Opperman said in the letter published on Thursday: “It is imperative that you work with the PSIG in order to share your data with wider Project Bloom partners, to help us stop pension scams altogether.
“If you are not able to help, I would very much like to understand why.”
He noted that despite the introduction of new regulations to empower trustees in the fight against pension scams being “a significant step forward”, there is a need for the issue to be tackled together by the government, the individual and the industry.
“Pension schemes have a professional, ethical and moral duty to try and prevent their members being ripped off, and better data-sharing is a vital first step,” he said.
