pensions JUSTIN KASE ZFIVEZ / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


Pensions job only ‘half done’


Reforms to boost saving – and riskier investment – were the topic of a TUC conference. Jenny Sims reports


S


omething had to be done. People weren’t saving enough for retirement, so auto- enrolment was


introduced with government cross- party support. It was a great success, but the job’s only ‘half done’ union leaders, policy analysts, politicians and other speakers at the TUC’s pensions conference 2025 agreed. Today, despite auto-enrolment,


people still are not saving enough for retirement, particularly freelances, the self-employed, women and low earners. In recognition, and to tackle wider pensions savings and investment issues, the government is to publish a pensions review (phase 2) and also introduce a pensions bill later this year. The TUC is supportive, in principle, of


the government’s aim to ensure a better financial future for all retirees. However, leaders expressed concern about. They were also worried about the increased freedoms to ‘risk take’ by the new mega pension funds; the composition of boards of trustees because of increasing numbers of professional trustees compared with employees or union representatives. In addition concern was expressed about the governance of boards and transparency. The last keynote speaker of the day,


Nausicaa Delfas, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, summarised: “After decades of hard work… in the pensions world, we’re all at an inflection point. We have a chance to build on the success of the past and make pensions work for everyone. “The pension challenge facing us as a


society is the need to make sure that after 20, 30, 40 years of pension savings, people have enough to support themselves financially in older life.” She said that the fact that for the first time, eight in 10 workers now invest in


18 | theJournalist


pensions was “a fantastic success story – but a story that’s only half written” because many people still face uncertain outcomes in later life. She acknowledged the issues are particularly acute for women and low and medium earners. She went on: “We have a


generation of people who were never offered a pension when they joined the workforce, who missed out on the defined benefits system which were available to some, and have since only been automatically enrolled in defined contributions much later in life.” The next stage of reform will be “to


make the system as best it can be to improve outcomes for pension savers,” said Delfas.


The pensions bill is expected to


introduce measures that will radically reshape the market. It will aim to prevent people with defined contributions from losing track of their pension pots saved with different employers. Electronic dashboards will enable people to “connect with their pensions”. At the start of the conference pensions minister Torsten Bell, former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said the second stage of the pensions review will aim to “start the country investing in its future”. He pointed out the UK is a low-


investing country: “Only one G7 country, Germany, invests less than us.” Kate Bell, TUC assistant general


secretary, expressed the TUC’s willingness to work with government, employers and unions on the pensions review. Though supporting more risk-taking by the big pension funds, including local government pension funds, the TUC wants to see more employee and


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pensioner membership on trustee boards to ensure regulation, oversight and good governance. Key points of the review include: • There will be far few fewer but larger pension funds, with the aim of reducing management costs and getting better returns for savers • The government wants funds to be bigger risk takers and invest more in the UK and in structural projects such as solar panel farms and new reservoirs • Some local government funds


have already accessed the National Wealth Fund to invest in community projects • Concerns were expressed


about the governance of pension boards. The TUC and others are calling for more employees and savers to be represented among trustees. Wrapping up at the end of the


A generation were never offered a pension when they joined the workforce and were only automatically enrolled much later


day, Jack Jones, TUC policy officer for pensions, told a packed hall of union members it was likely to be the last time they would be able to hold their annual pensions conference at Congress House, a grade II listed building, and the TUC’s headquarters in central London. (It has been up for sale since 2024.) Only a few weeks after Jones’ prediction, it was confirmed that Congress Centre will cease trading as a conference and events venue on June 30. Ruby Chagger, the centre’s conference and sales manager, said: “After more than 25 years delivering world-class events in our iconic building, we’re saddened to have reached the end of this era.”


LLEWELLYN / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


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