§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the relative sales of(a) stakeholder pensions and (b) personal pensions in the first quarter of this financial year; and if he will make a statement. [8965]
§ Mr. McCartneyFigures from the Association of British Insurers show that 535,000 single premium and regular premium pensions were sold in the April-June quarter of 2001, of which over 200,000 were stakeholder pensions. The volume of regular premium pensions sold represented an increase of 55 per cent. over the same period last year, and the volume of single premium pensions sold represented an increase of 192 per cent. over the same period last year.
Initial indications are that stakeholder pensions have made an encouraging start and that they are also helping to increase the overall coverage of private pensions provision, but it will be some time before the impact becomes clear.