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lol! john, i think it can mean anything, and may be meaningless...my confidence in this scheme is low, and my suspicions are high...that regular joe is gonna get creamed again, that is...
as far as i can tell, so far they have concentrated on recruitment and consulting on charges, and spent about £14m so far...
came across this while googling...i'm not fussy...
http://edvaizey.mpblogs.com/2008/04/11/more-on-pada-2/
the whole set up is skewed towards the knowledge, experience and needs of the financial services sector, and apparently selling pensions to lower wage earners presents various lucre problems...
http://www.padeliveryauthority.org.uk/files/consultation_paper.pdf
"Setting up and managing a major
occupational pension scheme like
personal accounts, with the potential
for around £100 billion of funds under
management over the longer term,
requires expertise not available in the
public sector."
yes, it's full of chuckles...
anyway - it's a strange beastie. it's powers are fairly astonishing, and having glanced at the legislation, i realize that i don't really know what it means... has it been enronised already? am i right to think SERPS is finally killed off...? is this a private sector _authority_...!!!? does it signal the end of occupational pensions for those earning under £33k?
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070022_en_5#pt3-l1g20
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmbills/025/en/index_025.htm
yes, the availability of occupational pensions is difficult in current labour market conditions with low paid short period jobs -
let's hope that one unintended consequence is not an expansion of off the books employment to save on employers pension contributions, harming the basic pension entitlements...etc...
although i started off on pensions, all those years ago, i'm not a pensions expert, and i recall the superannuation debates at union conferences used to be held on the morning after the scottish hotel do - very considerate really, but i would like to see more democratisation and say over pension scheme management by contributors and beneficiaries...once bitten, as they say... but i see little chance for the public to get their heads around this little lot (although it might suit HMRC escapees and be an refreshing change from tax credits...only joking) without courses and work place coaching...uh hmmmm...
talking of refreshing changes, after dipping into this, and closing it fast, screaming, i came across these now elderly, but still excellent articles by chance, and they're well worth remembering...
SERPS, or Serpes, as it affectionately came to be called during the Action for Benefits Campaign in the 80s, was an excellent scheme for increasing pension provision, when it was introduced with cross party support in 1975, and would have been maturing very nicely now if it had not been slashed in half by Fowler in 86? 88? a reminder of times when 'meaning' meant something err...more ...and purposeful actions were possible...
http://www.tonylynes.co.uk/web/pensions/pensions-articles/pension-credit-1948-style
http://www.tonylynes.co.uk/web/pensions/pensions-articles/pensions-serps-no-good-for-low-paid
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