Workplace pensions can be saved in just six steps says the National Association of Pension Funds' (NAPF) Investment Council Chairman, Ray Martin.

Speaking during his inaugural address to the NAPF Investment Conference, currently being held in Edinburgh, Martin said that urgent action from politicians ahead of the General Election and the Budget could fix workplace schemes.

He bemoaned the 'noughties' as a "lost decade for pensions", which gave birth to the downward trend in provision that has blighted the UK.

"Ten years ago there were two million more people in private sector defined benefit schemes than there are today. By anybody's standards that's an astonishing decline," he said.

A reversal of the Government's decision to withdraw higher rate tax relief on pension contributions, simplification of the 2012 reforms to help employers comply, and a change of objectives from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to grant it the responsibility of encouraging the creation of an environment where pension provision can flourish, were three of his suggested changes. Martin said the Regulator should not just exist to protect the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Ensuring that the accounting standards, which are due for consultation, are up to scratch and give investors transparency was his fourth suggestion.

Martin also reiterated the NAPF's long-standing demand that more long-dated and index-linked gilts are issued to enable funds to better match their liabilities, and added that the final step would be for simplicity to be placed at the heart of pensions policy, both for State and workplace provision.

Later this month, the NAPF will publish its Vision for Pensions statement, setting out its vision of the UK pension systems' reshaping to make it simpler and more engaging.

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