03 March 2006
Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has said that wider access to low-cost savings plans must emerge from the consultation on Lord Turner's retirement proposals.
Hutton this week outlined the parameters on the proposed National Pension Savings Scheme, one of the key recommendations from Turner's report on the UK pension system last year.
Turner reported that up to 11 million people are not saving enough for an adequate retirement, and has proposed setting up a low-cost, government-led NPSS which staff and employers would have to pay into.
The financial services industry and organisations such as the National Association of Pension Funds have proposed alternative models, with some attacking Turner's plan as too ambitious.
But at a Whitehall event on February 28, Hutton said: 'It is essential that we open up the world of low-cost pensions saving to millions more people. The argument is about the best way to do it.'
However, he said that he was 'mindful' of the potential impact of imposing new costs on businesses.
PFmar2006
