UK – UK pensions minister Stephen Timms today challenged the industry to come up with an alternative model to the National Pensions Saving Scheme outlined in last week’s Turner Report.

Speaking at the annual Association of British Insurers’ Saver Summit conference in London, Timms urged all parties to “work out the details” and submit proposals by early February 2006.

Interested parties would be then be given the opportunity to present their models to the government at an event possibly hosted by ABI, which will form part of the national pensions debate.

“Success in pension reform requires government and industry to work in partnership with employers and employees. The voice of the industry has always been at the heart of our consultations on reform – and we need it to be at the heart of our response to Turner,” said Timms.

The Investment Management Association (IMA) informed IPE they had already made a submission to the Department for Work and Pensions in October, but that it would be updated in light of the Turner Report.

The DWP said in a statement that the ABI believed that – given a level playing field – it could put together an industry-led model, which would do “a better job” than the model proposed by Lord Turner.

The DWP broadly welcomed the framework of the Pensions Commission’s proposals, stating they laid a “good basis for the debate to come”.

However, Timms added that much of the framework’s detail was still a matter for discussion – personal accounts being one such area.

He reiterated that any kind of pensions reform would need to comply with government principles of fairness, affordability, simplicity and sustainability.

“The relative level of charging for the NPSS model versus the industry-led model as ABI is suggesting, will be important in evaluating the two alternative approaches,” Timms stated on the sidelines of the conference.

According to Timms, new models should strive to achieve a radical extension of pensions coverage and a radical reduction in cost, creating an opportunity for society as a whole to save affordably for pensions.

“If you can design a detailed, workable model that meets these criteria and can match the Turner version for a broadly comparable level of charging, then that will be very attractive to us in government.”

He continued: “The decision when we make it will be a pragmatic one. We are serious about building consensus, and we are in no doubt as to the potential attraction of an industry-led model.”

Timms stated that the government would issue a white paper on pension reform in the spring, adding that it would encompass proposals rather than calls for more consultation.

However, he did later say: “Some proposals in the white paper may be a little more tentative than others.”

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