First up, the Hutton report, which was published in March.
The final report of the Labour peer’s Independent Public Service Pensions Commission recommended final salary public sector pensions should be phased out in favour of cheaper career average schemes by 2015.
Danny Alexander set out government proposals on public sector pensions reform in June – largely agreeing with Hutton’s analysis that workers should switch to a career average scheme, see their contribution rates hiked and their retirement ages rise. He eventually agreed an ‘enhanced offer’ in November.
The Budget saw the government unveil plans for scrapping contracting-out for defined benefit pension schemes as part of the move to a single tier state pension.
One of the more disappointing pieces of news – that auto-enrolment staging dates and contribution increases for thousands of firms would be delayed or changed – came right at the end of the year.
The changes mean businesses with between 50 and 3,000 employees could see staging date changed – with the exact timetable only being unveiled in January 2012.
Yet, given it is coming up to Christmas, I want to end the year on a happier note and remind you all of the story PP ran in June – a poll that ‘revealed’ the pensions industry topped the poll of most fun jobs.
Apparently, out of 525 people polled by The Job Crowd website, pensions was ranked top out of 26 industries, scoring highly on factors like responsibility, progression, colleagues, training, company and enjoyment.
As one respondent said: “Friends often make jokes about how boring my job must be dealing with facts and figures all day; little do they know we’re having a great laugh.”
These are sentiments with which the PP team would wholeheartedly agree – especially in this, the most festive of seasons.
On that note, all that remains is for me to wish you all a very merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and all the best for 2012, the year of the auto-enrolment reforms (that is, unless they are delayed further).
Jonathan Stapleton, Professional Pensions
