Pension schemes bill has low chance of quick resolution
With the spectre of Brexit looming over parliament, Jonathan Stapleton has some scepticism that the pension schemes bill will be enacted any time soon.
A lot can happen in a week. In my column for last week's magazine, I spoke about how a pensions bill was much needed but depended on parliament being prorogued, a Queen's Speech being held, and for the bill to be published, go through the legislative process and be enacted by parliament.
One week on, we have completed a number of these processes - and the Queen announced a pension schemes bill as part of a broader agenda from the government.
As James Phillips writes, much of the pensions content headlined in the Queen's Speech has been well-trailed and is derived from the government's defined benefit (DB) white paper, published last March, and a raft of consultations over the past two years.
The much-anticipated legislation includes plans to extend the powers of The Pensions Regulator, introduce regulations for the pensions dashboard, and bring forward rules to enable collective defined contribution.
But it doesn't include any regulation on defined benefit consolidation and it also fails to include much needed measures on auto-enrolment reforms too - leading some in the industry to dub it a "pensions bill lite" and a "major disappointment". Sir Steve Webb said the omissions were "a sign of a battle inside government where the Treasury has once again defeated the Department for Work and Pensions".
Yet, whether or not we agree with what was announced in the Queen's Speech regarding pensions, there still remains a degree of uncertainty about whether we will have a brand new Pension Schemes Act at all.
First, since the prime minister has no House of Commons majority, he cannot expect to put any of his proposals into law in this parliament. Until we have had some resolution to Brexit and a general election, it will be difficult to get any bills through parliament.
A general election itself could push back plans for an act, quite probably, into 2020 or beyond.
The feeling is that this is a Potemkin bill - a good looking façade erected to reassure the industry, set out the government's ambition and make us all feel a little more hopeful. While I would be delighted to be proved wrong on this point, it is likely that without a general election and a government majority, the bill will have little chance of being passed anytime soon.
Jonathan Stapleton is editor of Professional Pensions
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