Auto-enrolment, the next 10 years

A decade on from the introduction of auto-enrolment, the 2022 TUC Pensions Conference will look at the priorities for pensions policy over the years ahead.

The conference will take place online via Zoom on Wednesday 30 March, 10:00 to 16:00, and is intended for trade union members and officials, pension fund trustees, and anyone with an interest in pensions policy.

This conference will explore the successes and short-comings of auto-enrolment, a policy that has enjoyed cross-party support and brought an extra 10 million workers into occupational pension schemes.

It will also examine how pension policy must develop to ensure that these new members – and the workers still excluded from occupational pensions – can maintain a decent standard of living in old age.

Sessions will cover:

• Extending auto-enrolment to close the gender pensions gap
• Investing defined contribution pension pots productively while protecting members’ savings
• The role of collective defined contribution in improving outcomes for today’s DC members
• The case against further increases to the state pension age

Speakers include:

Jonathan Ashworth, shadow work and pensions secretary; Paul Nowak, TUC; Mark Serwotka, PCS; Sue Ferns, Prospect; Stephen Timms MP; Richard Holden MP; Fiona Steele, Aegis; Joanne Segars, NOW Pensions; Hilary Salt, First Actuarial; Harinder Mann, RSA; Kate Bell, TUC; Nigel Stanley, NEST; Dr Iain Clacher, Leeds University Business School; Mick McAteer, Financial Inclusion Centre; Josephine Cumbo, Financial Times; Alicia Minns, DWP

Programme:

10:00-10:40:    Opening keynote

Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow secretary of state for work and pensions

Paul Nowak, TUC deputy general secretary
10:40-11:40     Extending auto-enrolment to close the gender pensions gap

Sue Ferns, Prospect senior deputy general secretary

Richard Holden MP

Joanne Segars, NOW Pensions chair of trustees

Fiona Steele, Aegis deputy general secretary
11:50-12:50    DC investments: Making a positive impact without undermining consumer protections

Dr Iain Clacher, professor of pensions and finance at Leeds University Business School

Mick McAteer, Financial Inclusion Centre co-director

Josephine Cumbo, Financial Times global pensions correspondent

Lunch break

13:55-14:55     Taking a collective approach to turning workers’ savings into retirement income

Stephen Timms MP, Work and Pensions Select Committee chair

Dr Harinder Mann, Royal Society of Arts CDC forum co-chair

Nigel Stanley, NEST Members’ Panel chair

Alicia Minns, DWP multiple employer collective pension schemes policy lead

15:00-16:00      State pension age review: Can we afford further increases?

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary

Hilary Salt, First Actuarial director