Shadow Pensions Minister, Jack Dromey, has urged the government to accelerate the introduction of the long-awaited Pensions Bill.

Speaking at the AMNT Summer Conference today (4 July), Dromey said that the government “should bring forward the bill as soon as possible”.

He warned that the longer the bill gets delayed, the greater the chance that pension crises such as Carillion or BHS will occur, “which puts thousands of people’s pensions at risk”.

“We are ready and we are waiting to work with the government on improving and amending the bill to protect and enhance workers’ pensions,” he added.

It was, however, not only the government that Dromey called on to act in order to bring the bill forward. He urged members of the pension industry to “make your voice known” in order put pressure on parliament to accelerate the bills introduction.

During his speech, Dromey praised the current Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, for working cooperatively on the Pensions Bill and other pensions legislature, such as for collective defined contribution schemes.

“We are different political traditions and we disagree on a range of issues but there’s been a commonality of interest and cooperation on pension-related matters that I think has been very important,” he said.

Dromey stated that both him and Opperman had hoped that the bill would have already been on the table by now, but other matters, such as Brexit, have forced it to take a back seat.

He concluded: “The hope had been that we would have a bill in June or July.

“We still hope, although we are some way off it yet, that the bill will be introduced, because I don’t want it to plunge into the uncertainties of what may happen from September onwards.

“We have an opportunity of another pensions landmark, let’s not squander that opportunity.”

The bill is expected to have "three key parts": pensions dashboard, the DB white paper and collective defined contribution (CDC) legislation.

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