Written Question
Monday 19th September 2016
Asked by:
Baroness Drake (Labour - Life peer)
Question
to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with HM Revenue and Customs about the annual publication, in standard format, of data on the drawing of pension savings that have to be reported as taxable income by (1) age, (2) gender, (3) characteristics of income draw down products, (4) cash lump sums, and (5) annuities.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes the number and value of flexible payments made from pensions since April 2015. The quarterly publication does not include breakdowns of pension payments by characteristic, nor are there any plans to.
In accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice, Official Statistics are shared with a minimal number of named officials 24 hours prior to publication. HMRC maintains and publishes a record, which can be found on gov.uk, of all of those who have pre-release access to National Statistics and Official Statistics.
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 25 May 2016
Queen’s Speech
"My Lords, the gracious Speech heralds yet another pensions Bill, and recent Budgets have been characterised by intense speculation prior to yet more changes to the savings regime. There has been so much change but so little clarity on the long-term objectives of government savings policy. People are not sure …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Queen’s Speech
Written Question
Monday 7th March 2016
Asked by:
Baroness Drake (Labour - Life peer)
Question
to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase private pension saving by the self-employed.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The 2005 Turner Commission recommended that the self-employed should be able to join a pension in an easy and cost-effective fashion. Therefore the Government-backed pension provider, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) offers low-charge pension schemes to the self-employed, as well as to all employers.
Automatic enrolment has been a huge success to date with almost 6 million eligible workers people now enrolled. We will be reviewing automatic enrolment in 2017. We are keen to identify issues that should be addressed within the review and will be working with stakeholders to determine its scope.
The Government also recognises that the self-employed might benefit from saving in different ways to employees. In 2011 the Government introduced carry forward of annual allowances, which allow individuals with irregular earnings to use any unused Annual Allowance from the previous three years to contribute more to their pension in particular years, if this suits them better than making more regular pension contributions.
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 04 Jun 2015
Queen’s Speech
"My Lords, the Governor of the Bank of England recently stressed that productivity performance is the single most important driver of prosperity and growth in wages, but productivity in the UK has not improved in eight years, breaking a trend of around 2% annual growth. The FT reports the Conference …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Queen’s Speech
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 11 Mar 2015
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
"My Lords, the drive behind the amendment is to encourage employers to give workers reasonable notice before work which has been offered is withdrawn and to require, where a shift is cancelled at short notice, that workers have the right to compensation.
The recession in 2008 led to lower levels …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 11 Mar 2015
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
"My Lords, I support Amendment 74C. It is an argument that many in this Chamber are familiar with. As my noble friend Lady Hollis so clearly explained, there is a group of workers caught by the rules whereby someone has to earn in a single job an amount above the …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 27 Jan 2015
Pension Schemes Bill
"The Minister made the point that I had not heard before that, from April 2015, the independent governance committees will be invited to report on draw-down products, which is to be welcomed. Could he clarify whether the full remit of the independent governance committees will apply to draw-down products, or …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Pension Schemes Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 27 Jan 2015
Pension Schemes Bill
"My Lords, this amendment addresses the need for the Government to make savers aware of the interplay between pension freedoms, entitlement to income-related benefits and assessment for care and support. Pension reforms give rise to a significant risk that those with modest incomes will be overtaxed when they take cash …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Pension Schemes Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 27 Jan 2015
Pension Schemes Bill
"My Lords, I had a lengthy and impassioned speech prepared on the need for a second line of defence to address the risks that pension savers might make detrimental and irreversible choices when they access their savings. However, this has been tempered by the letter from the FCA, so my …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Pension Schemes Bill
Speech in Grand Committee - Mon 26 Jan 2015
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
"My Lords, I support Amendment 68ZY. My noble friend Lady Hollis has been tenacious in seeking to achieve fairness for a section of the workforce that is excluded from the national insurance system.
As my noble friend explained, this group of workers is caught by the rules whereby someone has …..."Baroness Drake - View Speech
View all Baroness Drake (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill