Political parties should focus on retirement

The company has specifically called on the Government to consider the appointment of a Cabinet level Minister to be exclusively responsible for all aspects of retirement, in order to face the many challenges of our ageing society.

According to Just Retirement, with people living longer than ever before, the impact of the UK's ageing society will be considerable. It is, therefore, crucial to have clear policies which educate people about the need to plan early and widely for their retirement. At present, many of these policies are split across various departments. Recently, for example, the Government issued two policy announcements on retirement and social care, which have been made by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It is important that these policy measures are made within a clear defined over-arching strategy for ageing and retirement - and this requires clear leadership.

The past few years have seen enormous changes in the pensions landscape, yet much of the current debate from the three main political parties is narrow in focus and is largely dominated by issues concerning the future of Defined Benefit (DB) schemes, whether in the public or private sector, or on the levels of state pensions. There appears to be less focus on the millions of people who are saving for their pensions through Defined Contribution (DC) schemes.

The introduction of initiatives, such as auto enrolment and Personal Accounts are welcome. It is surprising, however, that none of the major political parties have stated publicly which initiatives they would undertake to improve the situation of those who are coming into retirement and how understanding of the various options available to them could be increased. This is particularly striking given the current economic conditions.

Just Retirement has called on all major UK political parties to consider the following when constructing their manifestos for the forthcoming General Election:

• A Cabinet level Minister to have dedicated cross cutting responsibility for all aspects of retirement
• A state pension system that is clearly understood by the majority of people, commands wide confidence, and, therefore, clearly encourages people to save for retirement
• Active support for the necessary level of education and engagement among those enrolled in private schemes to ensure they obtain the best possible income in retirement and fully understand the choices available to them in a timely way
• Active encouragement of private saving for retirement, inside or outside of pensions, with regulation that presupposes saving is right
• Encouragement of the widest use of assets to maximize security in retirement
• Facilitating flexible retirement to enable those who wish to contribute to the economy for the longest time

Commenting on the political debate on pensions, Nigel Barlow, head of research at Just Retirement, said: "The national pension debate needs to move on. For over two years, it has been focused on the implications and implementation of personal accounts. This concentration has done little or nothing to advance discussion of the issues facing those coming into retirement. If the political parties are serious about providing solutions to the pension issue, they must accord it the importance it deserves. We believe that a clear signal of intent in this regard would be the appointment of a Cabinet level minister whose mandate would cover all aspects of pre and post retirement planning. We are also calling for greater thought by the major political parties as to what policies they will bring to the Country through a General Election campaign. Without this these policies in manifestos, the major UK political parties will risk ignoring an important constituency whose propensity to vote should not be taken for granted."