The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is still working through responses to its call for evidence on a potential lifetime pension provider model and needs to “dig deep” into the concerns raised by the industry.

Speaking at the Pensions Age Spring Conference, Pensions Minister, Paul Maynard, said that the call for evidence had generated a lot of interest and the department had received “an awful lot” of responses.

“There have been so many that have come in that we are still processing the returns,” he stated.

“I recognise that concerns have been raised regarding the impact on individual savers, the impact on the role of employers in pension saving, and we really need to dig deep into that, understand what the unintended consequences might be, and how they might be resolved.”

Maynard pointed to the ongoing issue of the proliferation of small pension pots, noting that the problem was not going to go away without changes, and the DWP wanted to assess whether changes such as pot for life were the best and only way to go about this.

“We want individuals to engage with all their pension saving, and yes there is indeed evidence that having fewer, large amounts of savings can increase engagement and reduce the risk of cashing out,” he continued.

“So, all of our further analysis need to consider these questions, alongside the fact that we have so many innovations already in flight that will change our pensions landscape, in my view for the better, but also fundamentally, over the course of this decade.

“We need to understand what gaps will remain in our thinking once those initiatives are all delivered and come to a long-term view of what our pension system is going to be.”

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