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Press Release

FSB says pension plans must be practical and affordable

Tuesday 12 December 2006

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has stressed the importance of affordability for small employers ahead of the Government’s announcement of its plans for a national pensions saving scheme today.

The UK’s largest business organisation pointed out that while small businesses employ 58 percent of the private sector workforce, they have limited resources and will be least able to cope if the new scheme is expensive and difficult to administer.

The FSB emphasized the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own retirement and said that more should be done to help restore public confidence in the pensions industry as a whole.

Mike Cherry, FSB pensions spokesman, said:

“The future of pensions does need to be addressed and the Government is right to do so. But we believe that the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own retirement should be reflected in the new legislation.

“Any new scheme must be affordable, easy to administer and introduced carefully to minimise the burden on businesses least able to cope with sudden increases in costs and administration. The burden on small businesses would be reduced if the new scheme could be run through existing payroll structures, rather than setting up a whole new system for employers to work out.

“There is a big opportunity here for the future of pensions in the UK to be secured, but if the Government gets it wrong, the jobs of over half of the private sector workforce could be at risk."



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Federation of Small Businesses

Federation of Small Businesses

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