Pensions minister Laura Trott says the Bill will enable the government to expand the scope of AE Image: parliament.uk (CC BY 3.0)
It is imperative to build on the success of auto-enrolment (AE) and ensure the future of pensions, minister for pensions Laura Trott says.
In comments provided to Professional Pensions after the government announced its backing for a private members' bill on AE extensions, Trott said there had been somewhat of "a quiet revolution in pensions" throughout the recent decade.
She said auto-enrolment had laid the groundwork for a new era of pension saving - noting that, since its introduction in 2012, the number of people saving into a workplace pension has doubled, and in 2021 an extra £33bn was saved in workplace pensions in real terms compared with 2012.
But Trott said it was "imperative" to build on these successes.
She said: "It is imperative to build on this foundation and ensure the future of pensions is structured around my three pillars of fairness, adequacy, and predictability.
"Therefore, I am extremely pleased to confirm that the government will be supporting the Private Members' Bill that began with my friend Richard Holden and is now being led by my equally esteemed friend Jonathan Gullis which will see AE extended to younger people and lower paid workers in society.
"This bill will enable the government to expand the scope of AE for the first time since its introduction and will represent a critical step to improving pension adequacy.
"These measures will move the retirement saving revolution to an evolution - AE has helped create a generation of savers, now it's time to help all savers maximise the value of their hard-earned retirement incomes."
