Commenting ahead of the King’s Speech on Tuesday 7th November Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon UK, said:
“The King’s Speech on Tuesday marks the State Opening of Parliament and outlines the programme of legislation the Government intends to progress during the new parliamentary session. This is expected to be the Government’s last parliamentary session before the General Election, which could take place around a year from now.
“We expect the government to try to squeeze a raft of new Bills into this short space of time, with the Prime Minister claiming his focus will be on growing the economy and keeping people safe.
“The Prime Minister has also said he wants to show the Government is making the right long-term decisions to build a better future. Pensions are long term investments for individuals’ futures, so we have high hopes that there will be a new Pensions Bill. This could take forward a range of measures consulted on as part of the Mansion House Reforms last July. Much of the detail of these initiatives around pensions and their investments still needs to be worked through. This means that any Pensions Bill is likely to be an ‘enabling bill’ simply outlining the nature of the legislation and what the Government wants to achieve. Keeping it light on detail improves the likelihood of getting it through the parliamentary process before the General Election. This will just be the start of the process, with greater detail, including effective dates, being set out in secondary legislation at a later date.”
