Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill

Overview

The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill was introduced in Northern Ireland Assembly on 20 May 2024.  The Bill and its Explanatory and Financial Memorandum are available to download here. 

The purpose of the Bill is to make provisions to provide the Department for Communities with the power to make regulations in order to make a number of changes to Automatic Enrolment. Automatic Enrolment was introduced in 2012 to enable more people to save for their retirement and to make pension saving the norm for most people in work.  Further information on Automatic Enrolment is available here. 

The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill aims to provide powers to extend Automatic Enrolment in workplace pensions.  However, if the Bill is enacted there will be no immediate changes to Automatic Enrolment.  Rather the purpose of the Bill is to confer regulation making powers on the Department to implement a number of reforms to Automatic Enrolment.  The provisions of the Bill would provide the Department with a power to make regulations to:

• Reduce the lower age limit at which eligible workers must be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme by their employers.  The policy intent is to use this power to make regulations to reduce the lower age limit from aged 22 to 18; and
• Reduce the lower qualifying earnings band or repeal the lower limit of the qualifying earnings band so that contributions are calculated from the first pound earned.

These two proposals were set out in a 2017 UK Government statutory review of Automatic Enrolment.  The Bill will make provisions for Northern Ireland corresponding to provisions contained in the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 which has already been passed by the Westminster Parliament.  Although pensions are a devolved matter, in general Northern Ireland’s pension policy and legislation operate in line with corresponding provisions in Great Britain in line with section 87 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.