The government is to launch a consultation in March on proposals to make auto-enrolment simpler.
The proposals are based on feedback received since the implementation of the reforms began in October 2012. These include a list of areas that could benefit from practical and technical improvements, including:
- Making the assessment of the workforce easier.
- Making it easier for money purchase pension schemes to show these meet the quality requirements.
- Removing the duty to enrol particular groups, such as those who benefit from protection, because they already exceed the lifetime allowance for tax purposes.
Steve Webb, minister for pensions (pictured), said: “We’ve been listening to the experience of employers that have enrolled their workforce so far and recognise that some parts of the process could be improved.
“By consulting on these changes we can address this before automatic-enrolment is rolled out to small and medium-sized businesses.
“We don’t want to make changes to legislation lightly, but we do want to make sure that automatic-enrolment is working as well as possible.”
