MP Jonathan Gullis’ Private Member’s Bill to extend auto-enrolment (AE) to lower earners and younger workers has passed its third reading, and will now move to the House of Lords.

The bill seeks two extensions to AE, abolishing the lower earnings limit for contributions and reducing the age for being automatically enrolled to 18.

Commenting in the House of Commons, Pensions Minister, Laura Trott, congratulated Gullis, and MP Richard Holden, who previously introduced a similar Private Member's Bill, on their efforts in this area, suggesting that they will "improve the retirement aspirations for millions across the UK".

Commenting during the third reading, Trott stated: "I'd like to acknowledge too the support of members across the house in progressing this legislation.

"The broad consensus around workplace pensions, which has existed since the pensions commission, is a testament to the importance we all place on delivering improved retirement outcomes for our fellow citizens.

"A lot has been achieved in the past decade in these reforms. Over 10 million people have been enrolled into a pension, more than 2 million employers are paying into employees pensions for the first time.

"An additional £33bn has been saved in real terms in 2021 compared to 2012, and it's been especially transformative for women, low earners and younger people, who have been historically been poorly served or excluded from workplace pensions.

"This bill sets us on the path to do more for all these groups, who will benefit from increased saving for retirement, with many gaining access for the first time to contributions from their employer."

Trott also commented on the duty for the government to consult about how it will make these changes through regulations, in terms of both the approach to implementation and the timetable.

"We will report to parliament on the outcome of that consultation, before bringing forward the necessary secondary legislation, which will also be debated in this house," she continued.

"I look forward to engaging with honourable members on these details to ensure that the expansion of AE is done in the right way for employers, workers and taxpayers."

Trott previously suggested that a consultation on the implementation approach and timetable would be launched in "autumn", reiterating during the third reading that whilst she could not provide an exact date, she would be pushing to get this "as early as physically possible".

Trott also addressed queries as to how the changes would be communicated to younger people, stating: "Once we are through the consultation stage and we have a timeline for when we can process forward, that is something we need to work a plan around and I will come back to the house on."

"The government supports this bill, and will continue to support it as it continues to move through parliament. I wish it every success," she added.

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