The chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals said it was important for all those involved in the production and distribution of pension schemes to work together to help make the auto-enrolment process as smooth as possible.
Speaking at a regional meeting in London last week, Mr Melvin highlighted the “friends of automatic enrolment” initiative, which the CIPP launched in February. He said: “We have been overwhelmed by the level of support this has received.”
He thanked Steve Webb, minister for pensions, who attended the meeting, for his “additional support and for helping us raise the profile of our cause”.
Simon Leyland, business development director for national consultancy LEBC, said: “This initiative is gaining significant momentum and to have the pensions minister in attendance, just shows how important this cross-industry collaboration has become.”
Friends of automatic enrolment has more than 220 members from all sectors involved in the auto-enrolment market.
| Friends of automatic enrolment aims |
To share knowledge and to share best practice in relation to auto-enrolment. To encourage collaboration among service providers. To help employers comply with their employer duties pre and post staging. To help tackle so-called capacity crunch challenges. |
The meeting came as a poll by Creative Auto Enrolment, the consultancy, found government communications on auto-enrolment had so far been ineffective in reaching employers. According to the findings, only 24 per cent of small-to mid-sized employers due to comply this year feel they have had enough information from government.
A further 5000 businesses could unwittingly break the law and face fines as a result of not understanding auto-enrolment and coercion implications, David White, managing director of Creative Auto Enrolment, has warned.
Adviser view
Sheriar Bradbury, managing director of London-based Bradbury Hamilton, said advisers were the key to helping bridge the education gap about pensions. He said: “There is a great opportunity for IFAs to offer a wide variety of advice models which would best suit some very different types of client. Advisers who embrace technology will be in a better position to offer cost-effective advice solutions to the mass market and to younger clients who may have previously sought advice online but might now require more personal attention.”
