Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"3. What progress his Department has made on auto-enrolling people into workplace pensions...."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"Auto-enrolment has met or exceeded all initial targets. However, to maximise pensions in the long term, we need to bear down on charges. Two years ago, the Government put in place a cap of 0.75%, which is half that permitted by the Opposition when they had one for stakeholders. The …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 09 May 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"T6. The business case for universal credit identifies savings of £80 million a week in steady state after implementation. These come both from IT simplification and from the removal of barriers to getting back into work quickly. Will the Secretary of State confirm that there is a focus not just …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Jan 2016
Under-occupancy Penalty
"When the Labour party introduced the spare room subsidy for the private sector, there was no discretionary housing payment to go with it. Have we made an assessment of whether we could extend discretionary housing payment to the spare room subsidy introduced by Labour?..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 22 Jun 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"Earlier, the Minister pointed out that we have brought in a 0.75% cap on private pensions that are subject to auto-enrolment. That is excellent news. However, there is also abusive behaviour more widely in the industry. Do we expect that cap to be extended to non-auto-enrolled pensions?..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 9th February 2015
Asked by:
David Mowat (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that schemes identified by the Independent Project Board as having excessive charges take effective and timely action in response and will be subject to sanctions if they do not do so.
Answered by Steve Webb
The recent audit of charges and benefits in legacy pension schemes was undertaken by an Independent Project Board, on which the Department for Work and Pensions was represented.
In their report, published on 17 December 2014, the Board made clear that action must be taken quickly to address high charges.
I have since met with the key providers to discuss their plans to ensure members receive value for money. Whilst the details of these discussions are confidential, a picture is emerging of industry action, with several providers outlining significant steps to address high charges. For example, preparations for the default fund charge cap which, subject to Parliamentary approval, will apply to schemes used for automatic enrolment from April, have already triggered a reduction in charges in many schemes. Moreover, some schemes with relatively higher charges are delivering valuable benefits, such as guaranteed investment returns, which may be better than anything available on the market today, and which it may be in members’ interests to keep.
Both the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority have powers to extend the charge cap to legacy schemes, if this is necessary to protect consumers.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 26 Jan 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"The Independent Project Board, which was set up by the Office of Fair Trading, recently established that more than £8 billion-worth of private pension assets were subject to charges of between 2% and 3%. That makes it almost impossible for such schemes to grow. Will the Minister tell us what …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 25 Nov 2014
Pension Schemes Bill
"I have been reflecting on the wording of the amendment and the use of the word “must”. Had adequate guidance been provided, it would have taken into account the whole gamut of somebody’s circumstances. If that question was not asked, however, what remedy does my hon. Friend suggest? Is he …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 25 Nov 2014
Universal Credit
"The Secretary of State must have been relieved to hear the Opposition reiterate their support for universal credit, even though they are concerned that it is being rolled out too slowly. Has he had a chance to review their four-point plan, which I presume is designed to address the issue? …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 02 Sep 2014
Pension Schemes Bill
"The shadow Minister’s point would be stronger if in the past when people purchased annuities that had been done with the correct annuities and financial advice being given. We know, however, that 80% of people were buying the wrong annuities. At least in the model now coming in, there will …..."David Mowat - View Speech
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