Toggle high contrast
Issue date
Commenting on the announcement today (Tuesday) by Pensions Minister Steve Webb that the government is to end restrictions on the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) in 2017, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

date: 9 July 2013

embargo: For immediate release

Commenting on the announcement today (Tuesday) by Pensions Minister Steve Webb that the government is to end restrictions on the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) in 2017, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

'The restrictions on NEST are bad for savers and put unnecessary burdens on employers.

'NEST has already shown that it is ideal for the modest earners and smaller employers that traditional pension providers failed to reach. We therefore warmly welcome Steve Webb's announcement that the restrictions will go, even if we would have wanted them scrapped more quickly.

'Any employer can now confidently choose NEST as a single supplier as the contribution limit will end just as full contributions are payable under the phased introduction of auto-enrolment. Despite the strong lobby to keep NEST restrictions from some commercial providers, the minister has come down on the side of consumers.

'But we are disappointed that the ban on pot transfers is not happening more quickly. We would have preferred an early date to help those who move jobs, as well as NEST members with pots from earlier savings in poor legacy schemes.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The government's statement on changes to NEST is available at www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/July_2013/9-July/10-DWP-Pensions.pdf

- The TUC's Campaign Plan can be downloaded from www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Alex Rossiter T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07887 572130 E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now