Torbay’s MP Kevin Foster has welcomed new figures showing 7,000 more people in Torquay and Paignton are now enrolled in a workplace pension.
Auto-enrolment was introduced so more workers can save for retirement, giving people greater financial security and independence in their retirement. National figures released this week show, due to changes in workplace pensions, over 9 million more people are now saving for their retirement.
Figures released last week show the number of workplace pension schemes has reached a record high of 41.1 million in 2017, up nearly 50 per cent in the last six years.
Kevin Foster said: “Our bay is a beautiful place to retire, but it is vital the workers of today are making plans for being the pensioners of tomorrow by saving for their retirement. Auto enrolment makes this easy to do and its introduction has seen thousands of people across our bay start saving in a workplace pension for the first time.”
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey, said:
“These figures show just how extraordinarily successful automatic enrolment has been in revolutionising pensions saving in this country and has no sign of stopping. With almost 10 million more people saving in a pension through auto-enrolment, statistics are showing the total membership of workplace pension schemes is now at a record high of 41.1 million in 2017, up nearly 50 per cent in the last six years.
“Not only are millions more people moving into work, but they are putting money aside for their futures as a result of our reforms, showing we are returning to a society of savers where individuals are in control of their own money.”
ENDS
Notes
- The Pensions Regulator has shown how automatic enrolment has meant one million UK employers have enrolled staff into a workplace pension, helping 9 million employees save for their family’s future (The Pensions Regulator, Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by region and local authority area, 11 September 2018, link; The Pensions Regulator, Press Release, 13 February 2018, link).
- We are transforming the way people save for retirement by introducing automatic enrolment. Since its launch in 2012, almost 10 million people are now enrolled into a workplace pension, a large number of new savers under the age of 30. 4 in 5 of today’s eligible workers (83 per cent) now see saving through a workplace pension as the normal thing to do if you are in paid employment (DWP, Press Release, 13 February 2018, link; The Pensions Regulator, Press Release, 13 February 2018, link).
- The people benefitting the most from automatic enrolment are young people, women and those people who earn the least in the workplace. Workplace pension participation in the public and private sectors has increased from a low of 55 per cent in 2012 to 78 per cent in 2016. The most significant increases have been among the lowest earners, younger people (those aged 20 to 29) and women (DWP, Press Release, 13 February 2018, link; DWP, Automatic enrolment review 2017: Maintaining the momentum, 18 December 2017, link).
- DWP research recently found that workplace pensions have become ‘the new normal’, revealing that small and micro employers – which represent 98 per cent of all UK businesses – are finding automatic enrolment ‘necessary’, ‘sensible’ and ‘easier to implement than first expected’ (DWP, Press Release, 13 February 2018, link).
Constituency data
Constituency
Number of additional people saving for a workplace pension due to auto-enrolment
Torbay
(Covers Torquay & Paignton)
7,000
Totnes
(Includes Brixham)
9,000
Source: The Pensions Regulator, Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, 11 September 2018, link; The Pensions Regulator, Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by region and local authority area, 11 September 2018, link.