The government will consult on regulations around guaranteed minimum pension equalisation, pensions minister Guy Opperman has said, but he has ruled out addressing the gender pensions gap beyond auto-enrolment. Auto-enrolment will also not see reforms started in this parliamentary session.

 

MPs approved a new bill on Friday that amends existing legislation around GMP equalisation and is intended to help schemes with their conversion of benefits. The Pension Schemes (Conversion of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions) bill, brought by Margaret Ferrier MP, had cross-party support and will now go to the House of Lords for debate. The bill removes the requirement for a scheme’s sponsoring employer to give its permission, and replaces this with a power to set out in regulations who must consent to the conversion.   

 

Opperman said there would be a full consultation and – having been challenged by shadow minister for social security Karen Buck on the government’s communication of pension matters – said that “there will also be communication in a broad way”, including in writing through a letter.

 

 

In her speech, Buck also raised the yawning gender pension gap, which is a multiple of the gender pay gap in the UK. 

“GMP equalisation is only one way in which imbalances… need to be addressed,” she said. “We need to have a reassurance that the government will commit to continuing to ensure that all aspects of gender inequality in pensions are being looked at.” 

 

Opperman however did not offer any remedies for women and men's vastly unequal pot sizes, maintaining that the solution lies in increasing coverage. “Successive governments have concluded that the way ahead on that is auto-enrolment,” he said, pointing to an increase in coverage for women from 40% to 80%.

A private member’s bill by Richard Holden MP on reforming auto-enrolment.*

 

However, Opperman, asked by Holden to comment on the bill, cited time constraints. “The probability of the situation is that this House has a very limited period of time,” before the Queen’s speech that normally takes place in May, he said. “The practical reality is that there is no real way that my honourable friend’s bill would get through this House and the House of Lords in the time that is allowed." 

 

He added that the government remains committed to the 2017 auto-enrolment review and that “in the fullness of time” it would bring forward legislation. “He will have to bear with me,” Opperman said.