The government had said that there is “no date yet available” for a second reading of the Pension Schemes Bill, reintroduced in the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019.

It has said that the House of Commons Library “will produce a briefing material for the second reading” in the Commons when a date becomes available.

The bill, initially announced in the previous Queen’s Speech on 14 October 2019, includes a legislative framework for the introduction of a pensions dashboard, strengthening of The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) powers and legislation for collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes.

Brexit negotiations are predicted to take up most of the government’s parliamentary schedule until the date that the UK is expected to leave the European Union (31 January).

The second reading paper “may be updated” as the bill goes through Parliament, according to the government, with additional papers being added to the library to reflect its progress.

In its current form, the bill will also amend legislation for the Pension Protection Fund compensation regime to enable the lifeboat to continue to provide compensation as intended and amend the definition of administration charges.

Furthermore, the document stipulates that trustees will now be required to provide a statement on their funding strategy for defined benefit pension schemes and creates regulations to set out circumstances under which a pension scheme member will have the right to transfer their pension savings to another scheme.

It also confirmed that pension schemes will be compelled to provide accurate information to consumers and that TPR will have powers to ensure that relevant schemes comply.

The bill's provisions would extend and apply to the whole of the UK. Pensions policy is reserved in Scotland and Wales but devolved to Northern Ireland.

The government said that the purpose of the bill was to “support pension saving in the 21st century, putting protection of people’s pensions at its heart”.

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