Government Views

The UK economy is weak and will remain so for "some time to come".This is the view of Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable, who said "sluggish growth and comparatively high inflation are a serious concern".Mr Cable's comments follow the publication of the Bank of England's latest quarterly inflation report, ... read more

The Pensions Regulator has announced details of three special events intended to provide scheme organisers with advice on how best to govern their products.Workshops will be held in London, Manchester and Nottingham to "emphasise the importance of securing good governance through having the right people and processes".The poor handling of ... read more

The Department for Work and Pensions has announced a new chairman for its NEST Corporation.From February 1st, Lawrence Churchill will head the UK-wide pension fund and assist in recruiting other trustee members."I am delighted to be appointed as the chair of the NEST Corporation," said Mr Churchill of his appointment. ... read more

More than 150,000 people are to share £3.5 billion in government compensation as a result of issues with the pension market.The Department of Work and Pensions has announced that many workers will have at least 90 per cent of their pensions guaranteed after their employers "went bust".Angela Eagle, minister of ... read more

Partha Dasgupta has been appointed chairman of the Pensions Advisory committee by secretary of state for work and pensions Yvette Cooper.Mr Dasupta said he was very pleased to accept the role and claimed last year's record public demand for an independent information service showed a "growing need" for the Pensions ... read more

Official inflation figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the Consumer Price Index, the government's preferred measure of inflation, was 2.9 per cent in December.The figure was up from the 1.9 per cent reported in the previous month.According to the ONS, the one per cent increase ... read more

Pensions guru Dr Ros Altmann has urged the government to review the age at which people need to retire. A leading industry commentator has said that proposals to review the default retirement age are "long overdue".Dr Ros Altmann, an independent pensions adviser, said that current policy "works against" giving people ... read more

Government announcements regarding the reform of workplace pensions do not go "far enough" in some areas, according to one industry body.Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), said that further changes will need to be made in order to "maintain existing good-quality provision".The comments follow ... read more

Possible future changes to the state pension age have been investigated by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).The researchers looked into recent Conservative claims that they would bring forward the present government's plans to raise the age, should they win the next general election.Current government proposals suggest that the state pension ... read more

The 2.5 per cent increase to the state pension announced in last week's Pre-Budget Report will not apply to all components of the payment.Speaking to the BBC, pensions minister Angela Eagle confirmed that parts of the pension, including the State Earnings Related Pension (Serps), would be frozen from April 2010.Instead, ... read more