personal accounts

The TUC has urged Pensions Minister Mike O'Brien to resist pensions industry lobbying to water down the test to decide whether an employer's pension scheme is good enough to qualify as an alternative to Personal Accounts.

The personal accounts delivery authority (PADA) has appointed Simon Richards as business delivery director with responsibility for the infrastructure and processes of the new pension plans.

Most small firm pension schemes may be forced to shut in 2012 unless the Government cuts the benchmark for exemption from personal accounts, a study suggests.

The Government is "hell-bent" on destroying existing workplace pension schemes after allegedly reneging on a decision to implement a quality test designed to measure them against Personal Accounts, according to Standard Life.

The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) says the majority of respondents to its charging consultation paper are split between an AMC-only structure or an AMC plus contribution charge.

Personal account charges will struggle to fall below 0.8% if New Zealand's equivalent auto-enrolment scheme is used as a guide, Standard Life says.

The long term financial security of personal accounts must be the top priority for the body tasked with devising the charging structure of the scheme, Aegon says.

Consensus on its pension reforms has been very important to the Government. It's worked hard to maintain the support of other political parties, the pensions industry and consumers.

Mercer has criticized the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) proposed change to the Pensions Bill, which would ban employers from providing non pension savings alternatives to personal accounts.

Pensions Minister Mike O'Brien says encouraging workers not to save in a workplace pension scheme will become unlawful under proposed changes to the Pensions Bill.