Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to amend FCA guidance to waive the requirement that someone has to seek independent financial advice and obtain a certificate to allow a transfer out of a defined benefit pension, if they can provide evidence that they are themselves a qualified financial adviser.

The appropriate independent advice requirement, contained within The Pension Schemes Act 2015 (Transitional Provisions and Appropriate Independent Advice) Regulations 2015, was introduced to ensure members with safeguarded benefits understood the level of security in retirement provided by such benefits and what the member would lose if they were to exchange them for benefits that can be accessed flexibly.

An amendment to the regulations, in 2017, requires the Secretary of State, from time to time, to carry out a review of the requirement and publish a report on the conclusions of the review.

My department is conducting such a review, and has engaged with the pensions industry, industry bodies, the regulators and consumer groups to inform this review and will publish the conclusions when it is complete.