The Pensions Bill will be absent from the Queen’s Speech on May 10th while the Online Safety Bill is set to return for a second year, according to experts.
The Queen’s Speech on May 10th will mark the state opening of Parliament and the start of a new parliamentary session. The speech will outline the legislative agenda that the government intends to pursue in the coming legislative session.
Aegon head of pensions Kate Smith says: “Next week’s Queen’s Speech will mark the state opening of Parliament and outline the programme of legislation the Government intends to progress during the new parliamentary session. There may be a few surprises but one thing we know for sure is that the Online Safety Bill, which aims to protect people using the internet, will make its second-year appearance, having been originally introduced last year.
“Bills are normally expected to take under a year to go through the process to coincide with parliamentary sessions but a considerable amount of scrutiny and amendments have caused delays. The good news is after intense calls from the pensions industry*, the bill now includes fraudulent paid-for adverts, giving greater protection to people from financial scams.
Smith adds: “One notable absence will be a Pensions Bill which is needed to implement the long-awaited 2017 reforms of auto-enrolment. It’s absolutely critical this is introduced in next years’ Queen’s Speech at the latest to give any chance of the reforms being implemented in the mid-2020s, as originally recommended. These would lead to more people benefitting from auto-enrolment and higher contributions. Delaying this any further could dramatically reduce the chance of the changes taking place this decade.
“A new Pension Bill could also include other consumer-friendly initiatives such as legislation to help address the exponential growth of small pension pots.”
