Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to hold a consultation on extending the automatic pension scheme enrolment of people who are self-employed.

The Department’s 2017 Review confirmed that the Automatic Enrolment (AE) framework cannot be straightforwardly extended to people who are self-employed, as by definition there is no employer to enrol them into a scheme; select a scheme or make contributions.

We remain committed to enabling self-employed people to achieve greater financial security in later life. Finding effective and enduring solutions is a long-term challenge given the highly diverse nature of this group, with varying incomes, assets, and employment experiences.

The learnings from the recent trialling and research programme delivered through Nest Insight have provided a useful platform to move forward, helping us to build the evidence base. We are working with software providers to explore the feasibility of building and testing retirement savings solutions in digital platforms, such as accountancy software and payment platforms, used by self-employed people to manage their money.