The government should make big changes in its pension policy in order to encourage people to save more for their retirement, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has said.
In a strongly-worded statement, the industry group said that it supported a new report from the Confederation of British Industry, which called for a relaxing of the law on pension scheme deficits. The business association had said that companies whose retirement saving schemes go into the red should have extra "breathing space", with extra time for paying the deficits back allowed.
Responding, the NAPF highlighted its own proposals to improve pensions in the UK, which include campaigns to trim back superfluous costs paid by schemes and public information campaigns highlighting the benefits of saving.
"The CBI's plan, alongside the action plan the NAPF launched at the beginning of the year, adds further weight to the need for the government and regulators to take pro-active action to support UK pension provision," the NAPF said.
"Alongside increasing regulation there has been increasing policy drift. Unless support is provided, we may all look back at 2009 and regret that opportunities to do more were missed."
Recent figures from the Pension Protection Fund highlighted how much the nation's final salary pension schemes were suffering in the ongoing recession. The 7,800 plans were found to have collective deficits of £200 billion.
