Pensions Commission

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Davies of Brixton]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what recent progress the Pensions Commission has made on its programme of work.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, last year, the Government revived the Pensions Commission to examine how to improve retirement outcomes for future generations. Its interim report, published on 19 May 2026, sets out key challenges with the current system and priorities for the next phase of work. It highlights that too many people, especially low and middle-income earners, are not saving enough for retirement. The Government look forward to receiving the commission’s final report and recommendations in early 2027.

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

Perhaps I may first welcome my noble friend the Minister to her rightful place on the Front Bench. I thank her for her Answer. We look forward to the progress of the commission to the agreed timetable, but I have concerns that it is only one leg of a three-part review: there is the commission; there is the Government’s review of the state pension age, which commenced a year ago yesterday and has been little heard of since; and there is the issue of the triple lock and the level of the new state pension. They all need to be resolved together to achieve a sustainable settlement. Can my noble friend explain to the House how these different strands will be brought together?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

I can indeed, and I am grateful to my noble friend for his welcome back. He will forgive me, as I will not be able to give him any specific answers on the future rates of the state pension; if I pre-empt the Budget, I think I may be the shortest-living Minister in history—I would not even make it to 24 hours. But I can tell him how the process will work. The Government are required to do a review of the state pension age. We have set up an independent commission, chaired by Dr Suzy Morrissey, to look at the evidence and make a report, which it has now done and handed it in. The Government will take a wider range of evidence, including from the Pensions Commission, and will then have to make a decision about the future of the state pension age. The commission is looking at the adequacy of the state pension. Obviously, the state pension is there, but the key objective is determining whether people are saving enough for retirement—so it is not just about what the state pension is doing but about whether people are saving enough in private pensions for retirement, and it is clear from the interim report that they are not. We now look forward to the recommendations that are coming. All of us will come together and the Government will make a decision. This is all on the back of the significant work done already by the pensions investment commission and the recent Bill on private pension schemes. It is all coming together.