Will a pensions bill follow the Pensions Commission?
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The King’s Speech on 13 May, held amid mounting speculation over a Labour leadership challenge, did not contain any proposals for laws relating specifically to pensions. But is there a bill in the making for recommendations by the Pensions Commission due in 2027?
At a recent webinar by consultancy XPS Group, the Department for Work and Pensions’ director for private pensions, Kerstin Parker, said her role covers defined benefit, defined contribution and the pensions dashboard – as well as “looking at the next bill for the Pensions Commission”.
Her statement would imply that legislation will flow from the commission’s recommendations. The commission, launched last year, is due to publish a ‘problem statement’ report this month, with final recommendations due next year.
Any changes to statutory pension rights or duties – raising auto-enrolment contributions, for example – would require primary legislation, while regulatory or administrative changes could be implemented through secondary legislation or by the regulators.
The Society of Pension Professionals last year produced a report proposing several measures to the commission. Some of these would require legislation, for example extending auto-enrolment to the self-employed, or introducing pension credits for carers.
Other measures the SPP would like to see could be implemented without new legislation, said its president Sophia Singleton. These include defining an adequate retirement income; identifying underpensioned groups; and improving public awareness and trust in state provision.
Encouraging employers to pay higher contributions voluntarily; expanding guidance, engagement and behavioural interventions; and improving access to older-worker reskilling and labour market participation could equally be brought in without having to clear the hurdle of a new law having to be in place, she argued.
However, the commission has so far not indicated what its preferences are. “We will just have to wait and see what type of recommendations are made,” Singleton said.
What is clear is that the commission is limited in its recommendations by being precluded from considering the state pension – which is being looked at separately in a review due to report shortly – or the taxation of pensions.
Other avenues are open. In March, LCP partner Sir Steve Webb thought the commissioners were particularly focused on retirement outcomes for people on the lowest incomes, while Pensions UK chair Emma Douglas said the commissioners were “looking quite favourably on the idea of emergency savings”.
If another pensions bill is proposed in this parliament, it will not be this year. The bills the government will take forward in the new parliamentary session only impact pensions indirectly, if at all.
“There may be implications for the industry in the regulating for growth and the enhancing financial services bill,” said Zoe Alexander, executive director of policy at Pensions UK.
“Our focus at this point is on the expected publication of the Pensions Commission’s Initial Report, and on the significant programme of secondary legislation and delivery that will flow from the Pension Schemes Act,” she added.
The Association of British Insurers’ director general, Hannah Gurga, called the enhancing financial services bill “a significant step towards strengthening the UK’s competitiveness and long‑term economic stability”.
Gurga said the ABI will also focus on the cyber security and resilience bill as it moves forward.
Just as notable as what was included, was what was missing, said Maike Currie, VP Personal Finance at PensionBee.
“We are unlikely to see another major flagship private pensions bill this year because the Pension Schemes Act 2026 has only just received Royal Assent. Instead, the focus now shifts from major reform to implementation,” she said, with a slew of regulatory consultations due.
The DWP said that it “cannot speculate on future legislative agendas”.
Do you expect there to be legislation before 2029 to build the basis for the Pensions Commission recommendations?
