Inside insight - 15 minutes with Steve Webb

Bob Scott spends 15 minutes with Steve Webb, whose previous role as Pensions Minister, will provide an insight into what is currently happening behind closed doors at Westminster.

In this video we discuss:

• Scheme funding. The Regulator apparently gave carte blanche for employers to take three month holidays from funding their defined benefit schemes. What role do you think government has played in this and can we expect further relaxations in the coming weeks?
• The Pensions Regulator has said that employers should treat trustees equitably in comparison to other creditors. What is your view on that?
• Auto-enrolment contributions. There have been calls for employers to be able to suspend their auto-enrolment contributions (3% of qualifying earnings) during the covid-19 crisis. As the architect of auto-enrolment what are your views on this? 
• Workings of government. How does the government get some kind of coordination across departments and organisations?
• Reform of pensions taxation. When Covid-19 is behind us and the Government looks to balance the books, how tempting will it be to look at the £1.5 trillion of pension scheme assets as a source of funds? A 2% levy across the board would generate £30 billion if I’ve done my sums correctly.