MPs to investigate advice in ongoing pensions freedom inquiry

The committee is looking at pensions freedom five years since it was introduced. The second part of the three-stage inquiry, launched in July last year, is to focus on protecting people who are moving from saving for retirement to using their pension pots. 

Pensions scams were the key focus in the first part of the inquiry which concluded taking evidence in January.

For this stage of the inquiry, the WPC said it is interested in exploring the options open to people when they come to access their pensions, the advice and guidance which is available and the information people need to make an informed choice about retirement products.

It said it "welcomes submissions" from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence and is accepting submissions until 15 May.

The questions asked include:

• 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?
• Are there other pension options, not currently available in the UK, which would better meet people's needs in later life?
• Are there barriers to providing other pension options which meet a need and are not currently available in the UK?
• Are people receiving the guidance and advice they need to make informed decisions about how they access their pensions?
• What role should the Money and Pensions Service have in supporting people accessing their pensions for the first time, including through pension dashboards?
• Should the Money and Pensions Service offer enhanced guidance or limited advice for people making decisions about their pensions?
• Can the success of auto-enrolment in helping people save into pensions be replicated for people in retirement through investment pathways?
• Including costs, what information do consumers need about different retirement products to make an informed choice?
• Are pension schemes communicating options effectively to members and are there material differences between trust-based and contract-based pension schemes?
• Can the issues around small pension pots be solved through behavioural changes by savers?

Participants are not required to answer all the questions and are encouraged to add anything else they might think relevant.

The third and final part of the WPC's enquiry will commence later this year and will focus on saving for later life and what more needs to be done to help people plan and save for retirement.

It will also ask if households have adequate savings for retirement and if there are measures the Government should consider to reduce the gender pension gap.

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