The 2020s have been a “complete waste” for pensions policy, LCP partner, Steve Webb, has said, arguing that the failure to build on auto-enrolment (AE) risked leaving future retirees with inadequate incomes for years to come.

Speaking at the Association of Member-Nominated Trustees (AMNT) Spring Conference, Webb said projections for future retirement incomes showed the decline of defined benefit (DB) provision was still outpacing the build-up of defined contribution (DC) savings, meaning overall outcomes were set to weaken before recovering.

Setting out his view of the long-term outlook, the former Pensions Minister described the projected fall in DB income as the “ski slope of doom”, as successive cohorts retired with fewer years of DB accrual and smaller average entitlements.

Although DC saving is expected to grow as AE matures, he warned it would take many years before it filled the gap left by the decline of DB.

Therefore, Webb argued that "the 2020s had been a complete waste".

He added: "We’ve achieved nothing in pension policy in that 10 years in terms of the thing that really matters, which is the size of the pension.”

Webb argued that, while AE had succeeded in bringing millions into pension saving, policymakers had then “wasted a decade” by failing to move ahead with contribution increases.

Webb suggested the government’s new Pensions Commission now represented the main opportunity to reset the agenda, particularly if it set out a post-2029 timetable for higher pension contributions.

However, he expressed frustration at the limits placed on the commission’s remit, noting that it was not expected to consider issues such as the triple lock or pensions tax relief.

Alongside this, Webb argued that ministers should think more broadly about how short-term savings and pension savings interacted, warning that some lower-paid workers could be pushed into debt if pension contributions rose without greater flexibility.

He pointed to ideas such as sidecar savings as one way to balance short-term financial resilience with long-term retirement savings.

Webb also suggested that official estimates of under-saving may understate the scale of the problem, particularly if the triple lock is eventually weakened.

He stated that the state pension currently played a crucial role in underpinning retirement incomes and reducing inequalities, whereas a greater reliance on private pension provision risked reinforcing gaps, including those between men and women.

In addition to adequacy concerns, Webb highlighted the implications of an increasingly consolidated DC market, arguing that the rise of pension megafunds could leave too much influence in the hands of a very small number of decision-makers.

While he acknowledged that larger schemes may be able to deliver scale benefits, he cautioned that the sector risked drifting towards “groupthink” and a lack of challenge unless governance kept pace.

Looking further ahead, Webb said he expected contribution rates to rise over time, more innovation to emerge in post-retirement solutions, and technology to play a bigger role in helping savers navigate increasingly complex choices.

He also stressed that stronger defaults would remain essential, arguing that the system could not rely on individuals becoming 'pension experts' to achieve decent outcomes.

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