All Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) articles – Page 33
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Features
BAE Systems' Airbus section ready for take-off
British defence giant BAE Systems has created a new scheme section for Airbus employees, to increase transparency while giving direct responsibility to the companies involved.
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News
BHS deal welcomed but views split over DB framework
Sir Philip Green will contribute £363m to a new pension scheme for former employees of BHS, under a settlement arrangement that achieves better outcomes for members than entry into the Pension Protection Fund.
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News
Pressure grows to provide pre-1997 inflation-proofing
Pensions minister Richard Harrington has demanded that the chief executives of companies including Hewlett Packard Enterprise and 3M explain their refusal to grant discretionary increases to members with benefits accrued before 1997.
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News
'Greenest of green papers' explores DB sustainability options but lacks urgency
A wide-ranging government green paper is exploring a number of possible changes to improve the sustainability of defined benefit schemes, but although experts welcomed the variety of issues discussed, some noted a lack of urgency.
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News
Greater flexibility needed to cope with growing longevity
The Department for Work and Pensions has called on employers to facilitate working at an older age so over-50s benefit from the same opportunities as their younger counterparts.
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News
Cost scrutiny intensifies as TTF calls for select committee inquiry
The Work and Pensions Select Committee has been asked to launch a fresh inquiry into charges levied on pension savings, as campaigners warned price inefficiencies reach far beyond investment costs.
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News
DB outlook 2017: Investment problems remain as deficits dip
Defined benefit deficits worsened during December to an aggregate IAS 19 deficit of £434bn, as experts added sustained low interest rates and cash flow problems to their concerns for pension funds over the course of 2017.
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Opinion
Is good pensions practice drowning in policy consultations?
From the blog: The run up to Christmas saw a flurry of political activity to cap off what has been an exhausting year, with two separate Department for Work and Pensions consultation launches complemented by the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s report on defined benefit.
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News
Select committee: Scare negligent employers into funding with 'nuclear' fines
The Work and Pensions Select Committee has called for “nuclear deterrent” fines – tripling the amount currently payable – to be levied against employers seen to be shirking pension responsibilities, in its report into defined benefit pensions.
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News
Push for simpler DC bulk transfers receives industry approval
Experts have welcomed a consultation on transferring members between defined contribution schemes without their consent, launched to simplify the process and help achieve scale in the DC sector.
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Opinion
Should the DWP cap early exit charges in occupational schemes?
UK governments have a long history of applying legislative sledgehammers to crack nuts. Sometimes because the nuts make the pensions landscape appear untidy; not infrequently to satisfy ideologically driven motives.
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News
High charges could affect £26bn of scheme assets, review warns
The Financial Conduct Authority and Department for Work and Pensions’ Independent Project Board has found that about £26bn of pension scheme assets are potentially facing charges of 1 per cent or higher.
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News
BSPS nears compromise deal as Tata announces closure plan
Tata Steel UK is to consult with employees on closing the British Steel Pension Scheme to future accrual, as part of an agreement with trade unions aimed at safeguarding the future of its UK steelworks.
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News
Cold-calling ban could strengthen scheme powers to block transfers
The government has launched its consultation on pension scams, proposing bans on pension-related cold calls, limits on the statutory right to transfer and tighter regulations for setting up potentially fraudulent schemes.
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News
One year wiser: What trustees have learnt in 2016
Any other business: From Brexit to Trump, 2016 has been a year of the once-inconceivable coming to pass. Faith in institutions, already low, has taken repeated batterings as prediction after prediction has turned out to be wrong.
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News
Ownership or nudge? How to make auto-escalation work
The pensions industry and government must instil a sense of “personal ownership” over pensions in currently underprepared members if auto-enrolment is to achieve its aims, pensions minister Richard Harrington has said.
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Opinion
Enable savers to take ownership of their money
We all know the pensions industry has seen a huge amount of change in recent years. One of the key challenges we face now is how we best explain these reforms, and what they mean for the ordinary saver, to the wider public.
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News
Trustees not convinced by indexation change arguments
Trustees are overwhelmingly in favour of restructuring scheme benefit structures in response to the defined benefit crisis, a recent survey has suggested, but stop short of supporting a statutory override on increases of accrued benefits.
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News
Early exit charge cap attracts criticism and praise
Both the government and the Financial Conduct Authority have confirmed plans to introduce caps on early exit pension charges, but authorities should take care not to actively encourage early decumulation, experts say.
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Opinion
What have we learnt from the pensions undersecretary’s first 100 days?
The changes at Westminster following the fateful EU referendum effectively resulted in a new government, including responsibility for pensions. Hopefully this does not signal a return to the revolving door at the Department for Work and Pensions.