The House of Lords committee stage for the Private Member’s Bill on extending auto-enrolment (AE) has been scheduled for 12 September, despite industry hopes that it could receive Royal Assent this month (July).

Following its passage through the second reading stage in the House of Lords on 17 July, there was hope that it would continue to move quickly through the final stages to be ready for Royal Assent before parliamentary recess.

However, it has been announced that the bill will not be discussed in the committee stage until 12 September, leaving the report stage and third reading in the House of Lords to go through before the bill can be made law.

Aegon head of pensions, Kate Smith, said it was disappointing to see the bill pushed back till after the parliamentary recess and warned that, if the bill did not receive Royal Assent before the King’s Speech in autumn, there was a risk it could be kicked into the long grass.

“Having rapidly passed through parliament in a matter of months, with cross-party consensus intact, we had high hopes that the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) (no. 2) Bill would receive Royal Assent this month before parliamentary recess on 20 July,” Smith stated.

“However, the government has clearly run out of time, with the committee stage in the House of Lords pushed back to 12 September, a week after parliament restarts.

“It’s bitterly disappointing that this really important piece of legislation will now be delayed until September, which could push this back considerably, as there’s still a few stages to get through.

“If the bill fails to get Royal Assent before the King’s Speech, which is due to take place sometime in the autumn, there’s a real risk that the process will have to start all over again, or even worse, be kicked into the long grass."

Smith noted that the legislation, which will lower the minimum age limit from 22 to 18 and lower the earnings threshold to the first pound of earnings, would not only bring younger people into the scope of AE, but could also be particularly helpful for low to mid-earners in enabling them to build up a larger pension pot.

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