§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make a statement on the take up of stakeholder pensions. [78222]
§ Mr. McCartneyFigures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show that up to the end of June 2002 1,011,934 stakeholder pensions had been sold. A detailed breakdown of sales will not be available until next year. Sales of over a million in their first 15 months on the market represents a very encouraging start.
In addition the ABI figures show that 330,296 employers had designated a scheme for their workforce. This means more people have the chance to save for a decent income in retirement through the workplace.
The ABI said that stakeholder pensions have also had a wider beneficial effect on pension provision by helping to increase the size of the overall pensions market. Stakeholder pensions have driven down other personal pension charges, some employers have widened access to their occupational pension schemes and other employers have set up group personal pensions with an employer contribution.