Employers push government to bring forward pensions deadline

The government may bring forward the date at which it wants to start the automatic enrolment of workers into its planned National Employee Savings Trust (Nest), according to a pensions expert.

Adrian Boulding, pensions strategy director at Legal & General, said that a number of large firms had pushed the government for auto-enrolment to start earlier than October 2012. They argue that problems with large numbers of seasonal workers in the retail sector in the run-up to Christmas meant many employers would prefer an earlier deadline.

'It [auto-enrolment] is definitely coming,' Boulding told a financial conference at the University of Warwick. 'It is going to start in October 2012 and even start earlier because a lot of the large firms have been banging down the door saying October was a terrible choice of time for them.'

Boulding, part of a three-man team reviewing the future of Nest, said its future depended on the outcome of internal Department for Work and Pensions wrangling over whether to devote £500 million on pensions or welfare to work schemes.

Nest is seen as a good way to encourage more people to save for their retirement but in the current economic climate may be regarded as superfluous. The fate of Nest will be announced at the 20 October comprehensive spending review.

'Nest can be ready [for 2012]. I have seen the project schedule,' he added. 'Provided the government give it the money it will be up and running in 2012,' said Boulding.