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Responding to the announcement recently (Friday) by Pensions Minister Steve Webb that he is to ban consultancy charging and consult on a cap on charges within pensions used for auto-enrolment, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

'This is excellent news, and the minister deserves praise for taking on those sections of the pensions and advisory industry prepared to levy unfair charges on millions of employees auto-enrolled into a workplace pension.

'This is a real victory for union and consumer campaigning, and for the many pension suppliers who have said that they will have nothing to do with consultancy charging.

'Consultancy charging has always been a huge threat to the reputation of pensions auto-enrolment. With opt-out rates encouragingly low, it is right to take action both to guard against the obvious rip-offs of consultancy charging, but also to ensure that all charges are kept to the minimum.

'Of course there is a role for advisers in helping employers meet their legal duties and get the best deal, but particularly with minimum contributions set at such a low level, the costs should fall to the employer not their workforce. After all, women employees are not expected to meet the costs of equal pay compliance.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The TUC's Campaign Plan can be downloaded from www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

Contacts:

Media enquiries:

Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Alex Rossiter T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07887 572130 E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk