Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, has confirmed that he intends to lay the Pensions Bill in parliament before summer recess, with the final report on the Pension Investment Review to be finalised in “the coming weeks”.

Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025, Bell suggested that final report will be "all the better" for the consultation responses received.

“It – and the wider changes promised in the Kings Speech - will form the basis of the Pensions Bill, which I will introduce before the summer recess," he confirmed.

The minister acknowledged that this "can sound like a lot, especially given wider changes – dashboards and the rest".

“There are limits on any organisations ability to deliver, and I take those constraints very seriously," he continued.

“Not everything that could be legislated for will be legislated for in the forthcoming bill for exactly that reason.

“And we owe it to you to provide a clear roadmap of how these changes fit together.”

The minister confirmed that he will also provide an update on the timings around phase 2 of the review in the final report of phase 1.

However, the minister was not drawn into more detailed conversations around phase two of the review, which is expected to focus on adequacy.

“Getting absolutely the best value for savers is the priority to any wider debate on savings levels,” he stated, continuing: "That’s why phase 1 of the pensions review on the landscape, and the Pensions Bill that will help reduce costs in the system and put decumulation on a firmer footing, must come before phase 2 on adequacy.

“The damage done by poor returns – including during decumulation - maybe feels less binary and catastrophic than the risk of Maxwell style broken promises…but it’s a mistake to underestimate its impact on savers, which can in some cases be just as great.”

However, Bell emphasised that he was not dismissing the concerns raised around pension contribution levels, but that he was “rebalancing the conversation”.

"I am absolutely not dismissive,” he stated. “I'm offering you a reflection, which is you don't need to spend very long thinking about adequacy and retirement to say it would be nice if people save more - we all know that.

"I'm just nudging that savings rates and returns are what determines outcomes. I am in no way naïve about the importance of savings levels."

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