Prospect launched the petition in response to the planned changes. The petition states that when the SPa is reviewed, the underlying principle is that the proportion of adult life spent over SPa should be constant. At first the target proportion was up to 33.3%. Government now wants to reduce this to 32%. The petition states that the 33.3% target must be maintained or the SPa will rise for millions.
Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said:
“I’m delighted the petition has been so strongly supported by Prospect representatives and members. It is very important that government is forced to explain why it believes that future generations should expect to spend a lower proportion of their adult lives in retirement. In doing so they have ignored their own independent reviewer who recommended that 32.87% was an appropriate proportion to use. We need an open and honest debate about the impact of this proposal before any changes are implemented.”
The petition closed on 18 June 2018 and a response is expected shortly from government.
Back to Contents
Protecting defined benefit pension schemes - a stronger Pensions Regulator 29 June 2018 A consultation has been published to help increase the protections of defined benefit scheme members. Proposals include up to a £1,000,000 penalty and a possible custodial sentence for those who act recklessly with their company pension scheme. In March 2018, the government published the White Paper ‘ Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes’ . In the White Paper, it stated that the existing system is working well for the majority of Defined Benefit pension schemes, members, trustees and sponsoring employers but that there are ways in which the system could be improved further. The White Paper said that “There are a number of measures where, although we have agreement about what needs doing, more work is required to build consensus about the best way to deliver our aims and to design the detail of our proposals. We will be consulting further on these areas.” As a part of this process, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be carrying out a number of consultations focussed on different areas. This is the first of these consultations, and sets out the proposals to improve the Pensions Regulator’s powers so that they: • Can be more proactive and get involved earlier when employers make changes which could impact the pension scheme; • Can obtain the right information about a scheme and its sponsoring employer; and • Are able to gain redress when things go wrong. The DWP state that this is an opportunity to strengthen protection for Defined Benefit pensions, and it is extremely important to get the changes right. The DWP is therefore asking for views on its proposals before it implements them and is keen to hear from anyone with an interest in these areas.
The consultation ‘Protecting defined benefit pension schemes – a stronger Pensions Regulator’ closes on 21 August 2018.
Back to Contents
Processes for payment of pensions tax relief to be examined 2 July 2018
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
Page 518 of 598
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker