The pensions bill is expected to be in included in the Queen’s Speech on 14 October, but there is ongoing speculation about its timing – and some of its contents. So what might we see of the pensions bill, and when? 

 

The bill is expected to give the Pensions Regulator greater powers, permit the creation of collective defined contribution schemes and lay the legal foundations for the pensions dashboards – but it is still uncertain if it will also create a specific framework for so-called superfunds.  

 

Superfunds consolidate defined benefits and cut the link to the sponsor – effectively buying out the scheme, just without the strict regulations and capital requirements that insurers are subject to. 

 

Shadow pensions minister Jack Dromey had said in July that DB consolidators will not be in the forthcoming pensions bill, having worked on the bill with his opposite number; the DWP has neither confirmed nor denied this. 

 

 

However, Dromey’s statement meant that Frank Field, who chairs the Work & Pensions Committee, has repeatedly asked pensions minister Guy Opperman whether superfunds are included in the forthcoming bill.  

 

On Monday, Field again warned the government that it must not allow superfunds to operate without specific new regulation if it wants to avoid another pensions scandal. 

 

“Why won’t the government act when it knows what can happen to life savings even when there is regulation?” Field said, adding: “The Queen’s speech must outline government action on this front, with full regulation of superfunds, if we are not to see more workers robbed of their due entitlement as happened at BHS and British Steel." 

 

Opperman had written to Field in September saying that “it remains the government’s desire to progress a new regulatory regime for superfunds”, but pointed out immediately that the government has not yet responded to a consultation on DB consolidation, and only concluded that the new regulatory framework will be introduced “when the legislation is ready and when parliamentary time allows”. 

 

 

Parliamentary time for non-Brexit issues is scarce, and even more so due to the planned prorogation.  

 

With the EU Withdrawal Agreement no closer to being agreed, the industry is concerned that the pensions bill will once again be delayed. It was originally hoped that it could be put before parliament before the summer recess and later, that it might be put forward by the end of this year. This is now looking more and more uncertain as elections are on the cards – and could shake up not just the timing but the bill’s contents. 

 

The chair of the Association of Consulting Actuaries, Jenny Condron, said: “It seems increasingly likely a pensions bill will not progress through parliament until after a general election, and whatever is currently well progressed in a draft bill may then be the subject of a rethink.” 

 

She warned however not to abandon well developed pension policies currently included in the bill, saying that although it might be “unwise to rush out a bill” in October if there is an election in late November, “it would also be wrong for many of these well developed draft policies to fall by the wayside”. 

 
A mallowstreet poll found that half of respondents believe there will be a general election this year after 31 October; just 12% said there will be no election this year. Election or no, it remains questionable whether the pensions bill will be progressed at speed given any government’s focus on Brexit – and so the inclusion or omission of DB consolidators in the bill might not be revealed for a while. Whether consolidators can continue to hold out without writing any business is the next question – the answer could become evident over the coming months.