The SMF working group on pension compulsion (WGPC) did not address the question of whether compulsion is the correct answer to the problems identified by the Pensions Commission. Instead, it will worked on the basis of the following hypothetical: if the Pensions Commission decides that the third of its potential solutions, an increased level of compulsory private pensions saving, is a preferred route, how might that best be achieved?
WGPC members had a range of views as to whether this is indeed a desirable option, but were committed to examining what a compulsory scheme might look like in practice, with a view to analysing its advantages and disadvantages. By setting out how further compulsion might work in the UK it hoped to contribute to the debate on whether to introduce it.
This paper was intended to provide the SMF working group on pension compulsion with a starting point for discussion and a preliminary agenda for its meetings.