Call for Evidence

In 2015, people aged 55 and over were given more choice about how they accessed their defined contribution pensions. Five years on, the Work and Pensions Committee is starting a major piece of work looking at the next steps in preparing and protecting people moving from saving for retirement to using their pension savings.

This is the second of our three-part inquiry, looking at decisions make about accessing their pensions. We concluded taking evidence on our first part, pension scams, in January 2021.

If you’re responding on behalf of an organisation, or you’re an individual who wants to send us a longer written submission, we’d welcome your evidence.

You don’t need to answer all of the questions below, and you can tell us anything relevant, even if it isn’t covered by these questions. Some of the questions we are interested in are:

1. Do people have access to a range of pension options to meet their needs for later life and how might these needs change in future?

2. Are there other pension options, not currently available in the UK, which would better meet people’s needs in later life?

3. Are there barriers to providing other pension options which meet a need and are not currently available in the UK?

4. Are people receiving the guidance and advice they need to make informed decisions about how they access their pensions?

5. What role should the Money and Pensions Service have in supporting people accessing their pensions for the first time, including through pension dashboards?

6. Should the Money and Pensions Service offer enhanced guidance or limited advice for people making decisions about their pensions?

7. Can the success of auto-enrolment in helping people save into pensions be replicated for people in retirement through investment pathways?

8. Including costs, what information do consumers need about different retirement products to make an informed choice?

9. Are pension schemes communicating options effectively to members and are there material differences between trust-based and contract-based pension schemes?

10. Can the issues around small pension pots be solved through behavioural changes by savers?

We will be taking evidence through the first half of 2021. The deadline for written evidence is 14 May 2021. We’ll still be able to use evidence we receive after that date, but your evidence will be able to have more impact on our work if we receive it by the deadline.

The third and final part of our inquiry will start later in 2021. We will be looking at saving for later life and what more needs to be done to help people plan and save for retirement. We will be asking if households have adequate savings for retirement and if there are measures the Government should consider to reduce the gender pension gap and to support self-employed and gig economy workers save for retirement.