The Pension Schemes Bill is set to return to parliament today (7 July) for its second reading, with Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, suggesting that the pace of pension reform is now "ramping up".

The Pension Schemes Bill was first shared and laid in parliament last month (June 2025), covering several measures that are expected to help "transform" the pensions landscape and provide a boost for member outcomes.

Indeed, government analysis shared ahead of the second reading suggested that working people on an average salary who save into a pension pot over their career could benefit by up to £29,000 by the time they retire, thanks to the major government reforms.

In particular, the bill covers plans to consolidate small pension pots, ensure schemes are value for money, and provide increased flexibility for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes to safely release surplus funds.

In addition to this, the bill, which has received widespread support from the pensions industry, includes plans to create multi-employer defined contribution (DC) scheme “megafunds” of at least £25bn.

These reforms are intended to help unlock long-term investment in the UK economy by removing barriers to growth, strengthening the security and governance of pension schemes and ultimately delivering better returns for people saving for their retirement.

Commenting on the bill's second reading, Bell stated: “We’re ramping up the pace of pension reform, to ensure that people’s pension savings works as hard for them as they worked to save.

“The measures in our Pension Schemes Bill will drive costs down and returns up on workers’ retirement savings – putting more money in people’s pockets to the tune of up to £29,000 for an average earner and delivering on our Plan for Change.”

However, there are still some key areas of concern surrounding the bill, with many quick to emphasise the need for further detail around certain wording in the bill, which legal experts said could be seen as "introducing mandation by the back door”.

There have also been broader concerns raised over the impact on certain groups, such as lower earners.

PensionBee chief business officer, Lisa Picardo, stressed the need for an "inclusive debate", warning that whilst the bill includes long-promised reforms, it doesn’t go far enough to reflect the realities of today’s labour market or deliver pension equality.

"Whilst the second reading of the Pension Schemes Bill 2024/25 is a further step forward, more ambition is needed to ensure automatic enrolment works universally, for everyone in today’s workforce," she stated.

“Lowering the age of enrolment to 18 and removing the earnings threshold altogether would help to close long-standing gender and income gaps in retirement savings.

"Millions of workers – particularly younger, part-time and lower-paid individuals – remain excluded from the current system, and even those who are enrolled often save too little to meet the rising cost of retirement.

“Through our Invisible Workers campaign, we’ve also called for urgent reform to bring gig economy workers into the scope of auto-enrolment. These workers contribute significantly to the economy and represent a growing population, yet are too often overlooked by outdated legislation.

"The government now has a golden opportunity to deliver a fairer, more inclusive and adequate pension system that reflects the realities of modern working life.”

The government itself also acknowledged that while the benefits of the bill are "clear", significant challenges still remain, with varied benefits for different workers and different groups.

However, rather than hinting at any changes to the current bill, the government emphasised that the upcoming second phase of the pensions review will examine challenges such as pension adequacy to ensure underserved groups do not miss out.

And the industry may not have too much longer to wait for further updates on this, with recent reports suggesting that further detail on the adequacy review could be revealed at the upcoming Mansion House speech.

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