State pension

The Department for Work and Pensions is under pressure to speed up plans for a ‘defined ambition' middle-ground, as experts predict the end of contracting out could spark a wave of defined benefit closures.

Actuaries claim public sector workers will gain from the abolition of contracting out but unions contend it could derail public sector scheme reform.

The overhaul of the state pension system announced today will save the government money in the long term according to Department for Work and Pensions projections.

Employers will have temporary powers to change scheme rules without trustee consent, in a bid to protect defined benefit schemes from the cost of abolishing contracting out.

The Department for Work and Pensions has outlined how it will phase individuals with rights under the current state pension system into the new universal system in a white paper.

People will have to work longer to qualify for a flat-rate state pension under long-delayed proposals published in a white paper this afternoon.

The government said it cannot make any further simplification to guaranteed minimum pension rules in its white paper on the single tier state pension.

The government today unveiled its plan for a single tier state pension after more than a year of delays.

Prime Minister David Cameron denied the end of contracting out will create a wave of further closures of final salary pension schemes.

Employers with final salary schemes face a hike in National Insurance contributions which could foreshadow another round of DB closures, as the government prepares to abolish contracting out later today.