§ Dr. FrancisTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what organisations he has consulted to meet his Department's commitment to develop an online web based retirement planner; and when that planner will be available to the public. [122267]
§ Malcolm WicksThe consultation programme for the Green Paper "Simplicity, security and choice: working and saving for retirement," Cm 5677, was the largest we have undertaken on pensions. More than 800 consultation responses were received. We also met around 2,000 people including individuals and those representing a wide range of organisations taking part in 35 consultation events of various forms. Nearly 150 people contributed to this discussion on our departmental website.
There were a limited number of specific references to the online retirement planner within the consultation responses. Those that did respond were in favour of the proposal.
The Department has also carried out specific consultation with representatives from consumer bodies, industry trade bodies and pension product providers. In particular, with:
- Consumers Association;
- Financial Services Authority (FSA);
- Association of British Insurers (ABI);
- Pension Product Providers, including AXA Sun Life, Legal and General, Norwich Union, Prudential, Scottish Equitable and Standard Life; and
- EMAP, an employer
We are currently finalising our plans for the web-based retirement planner in response to the Green Paper consultation exercise.