Over the last week it has visited the Treasury ahead of the Budget to request a greater issuance of long-term gilts.
It has also been in discussions with the Pensions Regulator to find ways of helping smaller DB schemes to pool together and gain economies of scale.
While Joanne Segars, chief executive at the NAPF, has carried out research that highlights how a greater burden of pension regulation in the UK, over other western countries, is effecting the competitiveness of UK plc.
One of Segars’ key proposals is that the UK should adopt the Dutch system of making indexation of pensions optional for employers, or that employees should be given a choice on this.
Under the latter system, employees that wanted an indexed pension would have to pay greater contributions than other members.
Segars said that the government had been bold in its approach of tackling the recession by bailing out banks and car manufacturers, and now needed to be bold on pensions.
The government has said it can only make changes on the basis of consensus and so far this had stymied its efforts to end the statutory indexation requirement.
However, speaking at an NAPF meeting last week, Lord MacKenzie, parliamentary undersecretary of state and government spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions, made clear the advantage of taking such an action.
He said: “We recognise that this is the one issue that could make quite a difference to pension fund deficits, but we cannot move forward until we have consensus.”
The only good news from the government is that it has promised some movement on section 75 rules in a corporate restructuring.
Lord MacKenzie said the results of an informal consultation would be announced by ‘late spring’.
He added that the government was also committed to exploring fully the possibilities of risk-sharing legislation for defined contribution schemes.
