Opinion

Time is running out. That is the message from senior industry figures this week as we edge nearer 6 April 2011 - the government's target implementation date of tax relief restriction.

That the Confederation for British Industry is set to back the key principles behind auto-enrolment and NEST in its submission to the independent review body is telling indeed.

The decision to get rid of the default retirement age and allow people to work after the age of 65 if they want to is a noble aim.

As gatekeepers of schemes, trustees must juggle investment strategy, liability management and, perhaps most importantly, make sure beneficiaries receive their pension on time.

Unlike former PP editor-in-chief Alex Beveridge, who admitted in his column last week that reading time has become a somewhat rare commodity since the birth of his baby son, I still have some time for light-hearted reading.

It was a good idea, but the execution was dismal.

Not a week seems to go by without the unions disputing the latest cost saving measures by sponsoring employers. The BBC, AstraZeneca and Ford have all been on the receiving end of union venom in the past two weeks alone.

The PP Pensions Commission was charged with formulating a range of simple, low-cost policies the new government could look to implement as soon as it came to power in a bid to improve pensions provision.

I used to read a lot of books. Some I read for pleasure and the rest because their presence on my shelf made me look smart.

It is rare to have a pensions minister who has been in the job long enough to be able to understand the issues the workplace pensions industry is facing.