NDEPENDENT PENSIONS COMMISSION TO PROVIDE DIGNITY IN RETIREMENT

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‘Pension freedom’ reforms were introduced in April 2015 by Westminster to allow people to draw down their pension pots early – with the Scottish National Party stating these could potentially result in financial hardship for them in the future.

Those of pensionable age now are beginning to experience some of the issues raised by the opposition to the reforms at the time – with some people transferring out of their pension to their detriment.

South Scotland MSP Emma Harper has echoed calls from The Scottish Government for an independent pensions commission to be set up by Westminster to provide dignity in retirement.

A full time carer, Jim McColm who lives in the region said;

“When an unpaid carer reaches retirement age their caring role does not retire- it continues, yet their Carers Allowance stops.

“Some unpaid carers on Carers Allowance also have part time employment but when they retire and lose their allowance some face financial penalties of having less income once they start claiming the state pension. Also people often aren’t aware of what they’re entitled to at pension age so there are cases where people are paying for bills for example from which they should be exempt.”
Ms Harper, who has provided much support for those of pensionable, age including women fighting the Dumfries & Galloway WASPI campaign said;

“Some of the issues raised back in 2015 are now being experienced by residents in Dumfries & Galloway and beyond. The UK government have not yet put in place safeguards for older people opting to free up pension assets. These issues were raised by the Scottish National Party years ago and have still not been resolved.”

The report finds that many people have been given unsuitable financial advice to transfer their valuable Defined Benefit pensions into less suitable and less secure Defined Contribution schemes, leading to growing compensation payments from the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Ms Harper reiterated the Scottish Government’s concern – that this issue may represent a large mis-selling scandal, the full scale of which may only come to light in the event of an economic downturn, which is fast approaching due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The SNP’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Neil Gray MP, and Pensions & Inter-generational spokesperson, Amy Callaghan MP, have written to the UK Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey urging her to take steps to ensure that going forward savers can make informed choices on their pensions and that they are protected and sustainable – starting with setting up an independent pensions commission.

An Independent Pensions Commission was requested by the Scottish National Party in 2015 to help introduce safeguards for older people to protect people’s pensions.

Ms Harper, added;

“As a reserved matter for Westminster the UK government must do this now to prevent even more people from losing some or all of their pension in the future. Now more than ever – as we face an economic crisis of enormous scale – the UK government must ensure that people can live with dignity in retirement by protecting their life savings. A pension pot should not be looked at as deferred income, not a cash machine.”