But Pickering, a former chairman of the NAP, welcomed the abolition of the default retirement age and called for a more flexible attitude to older workers.
In a panel discussion on “Are pensions reforms going in the right direction?” Pickering said older workers should be encouraged to adopt new skills and suggested that a plumber and a teacher could swap jobs in the later working life. “We need a labour force which is more patient to help people fulfil their potential,” he said. He also welcomed the reform of the basic state pension, saying it was the best way to stave off old age poverty.
But he expressed concern that auto enrolment was being introduced at a time when small businesses were struggling financially. “I am worried that money will go walk about. …. I am worried about the disconnect between you [intermediaries] auto enrolling a 20 year who is in debt ant putting them into a 80 year contract.”
Malcolm Small, senior policy adviser at the Institute of Directors attacked the Hutton report for not going far enough. “It is just the start, ” he said.
He said the IOD supported an increase in the state pension age to 70. because in 1948, male life expectancy for a 65 year old was 66, whereas today it was 80.
Small said auto enrolment implementation would be challenging given that ACCA research showed that 90% of employers with less than 200 workers did not provide a pension and that company directors were telling him that they did not regard pension provision as their responsibility.
He said : “In 1967, we had 12m people in DB schemes, whereas today two out of three workers are not in any workplace pension scheme. There is a huge disengagement from pensions by employers and employees. “
Despite this, he said that many employers, when confronted with the complexity of auto enrolment said: “Why didn’t they make it compulsory?”
John Deane, chief executive of Scottish Life, concluded that the pensions industry should “get on with auto enrolment ” and warned intermediaries not to rubbish Nest.
“We need to supply products which work with Nest. ….We need to take away the disincentives to save and ask the government to stop tinkering with pensions policy.”
