Millions of workers could see £6,000 boost to pension pots
The Government plans to double the number of UK pension megafunds by 2030.
This could result in an investment of £50 billion in infrastructure projects, which the Treasury hopes will boost the economy and drive up higher returns for savers.
Since taking office we've delivered pay rises for over 3 million workers by increasing the National Minimum and Living Wage, and secured trade deals with key international partners.
Today I spoke to the unions about our ongoing commitment to working people. pic.twitter.com/aXjJomWMfA — Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) May 28, 2025
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: 'We're making pensions work for Britain. These reforms mean better returns for workers and billions more invested in clean energy and high-growth businesses – the plan for change in action.'
The Treasury said the schemes are expected to save £1 billion a year through economies of scale and improved investment strategies.
Under the reforms, the local government pension scheme will be consolidated, reducing the current 86 administering authorities into six pools.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: 'The untapped potential of the £392 billion local government pension scheme is enormous.
Recommended reading:
'Through these reforms, we will make sure it drives growth and opportunities in communities across the country for years to come – delivering on our plan for change.'
Sir Steve Webb, a former Liberal Democrat pensions minister who is now a partner at consultants LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock), described it as a 'truly a red letter day for pension schemes, their members and the companies who stand behind them'.
He said: 'The Government has clearly been bold in this area and this opens up the potential for this surplus money to be used more productively to benefit scheme members, firms and the wider economy.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Spectator
an hour ago
- Spectator
Why Reeves should sell her bitcoin hoards
Deep fried prawn balls, chicken chow mein, crispy shredded beef and a Ponzi scheme could be about to win the Chancellor a decent chunk of her headroom back. As Rachel Reeves starts sketching out her autumn Budget, most of the focus has been on the tax hikes she'll need if she's serious about sticking to the 'ironclad' fiscal rules she recommitted to just last week. Economists reckon the wafer-thin £9.9 billion margin she left herself at the Spring Statement has already been wiped out and that she's now staring down a black hole of over £20 billion. So it was a relief to read this morning that the Treasury isn't relying solely on tax rises and has discovered a rather large stash of money down the back of the government sofa. According to The Telegraph, the government is developing a system to allow police forces and the National Crime Agency to sell more than £5 billion crypto assets seized in recent years We don't know the total amount of confiscated crypto the state is sitting on but one seizure in 2018 took in 61,000 bitcoin. If sold today, it would bring in some £5.4 billion – more than triple the culture budget and twenty times its value on the day the police got their hands on it. Jian Wen, who worked in a chinese takeaway, was convicted of laundering money – and her bitcoin seized – from a crypto scam carried out in China when she went from a life living in 'shabby Chinese restaurants' to putting cash offers on £24 million pound houses in Hampstead and villas in Tuscany. Victims of that Wen's ponzi scheme will be entitled to any proceeds of the sell off but experts are confident that enough of them will be untraceable that the Treasury can scoop up the rest and use it to start plugging the black hole. Of course, if Reeves does press 'sell', she will be accused of 'pulling a Gordon Brown', and selling the gold. Bitcoin is already up nearly 20 per cent this year and on current trajectories the Wen haul could be worth over £200 billion in 20 years. But she'd be wise to ignore those voices. Sure, crypto probably will rise. But given it has no fundamental value it might nosedive too. And the state simply can't afford to gamble on highly volatile assets when the public finances are in the mess they are in. So if this really is the plan, the Chancellor should act fast, take the money, and resist the temptation to hold. If all goes well she can treat herself to a Chinese.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Landlords must lose the fight over Scotland's rent controls
Last year, the government declared a national housing emergency, recognising record levels of homelessness, the toll high rents are taking on tenants, social housing waiting lists of nearly a quarter of a million across Scotland, and disrepair rampant across our housing stock. Yet as Professor Duncan Maclennan points out, the 'housing emergency' is a misnomer. Read More: This so-called emergency did not happen overnight; it has been created by design through the privatisation of our housing stock and unregulated growth of the private rented sector. Scotland's tenants have faced the hard end of these economic decisions for decades, and bold structural solutions are urgently needed in response. Tenants don't have time to wait. Rent controls, as outlined in the Housing Bill, are an important first step towards ending decades of housing misery. Robust, universal rent controls which have the ability to bring rents down could begin to transform our housing system by making private rented accommodation more affordable and disincentivizing exploitative landlordism overall. It's important to state that forms of rent control seen in recent temporary measures have included too many loopholes for landlords to exploit. Any exemptions to upcoming rent controls would create a multi-tier system, leaving thousands of tenants open to unregulated rents and undermining future policy efforts. The current consultation on rent controls has laid bare the Government's intention to appease landlords by introducing significant exemptions to rent controls. Ruth Gilbert, national campaign chair of Living Rent (Image: Newsquest) At this last hurdle rent controls are under threat. Since the government first committed to rent controls, the landlord and developer lobbies have eroded support for proper regulation of the private rented sector among politicians. The constant barrage of criticism - combined with empty threats of a mass exodus of landlords - have pushed a pliant government into conceding to appease the market at the expense of tenants. The most egregious exemption proposals concern 'build to rent' developments. The government has proposed a suite of amendments designed to encourage these sorts of developments, but this dangerous trend towards large-scale private developments is not something they should sensibly support. Build to rent properties are expensive, and beyond the reach of most tenants. Anyone who has walked through either Glasgow or Edinburgh recently will have seen these buildings springing up alongside billboards that promise convenient locations, fun perks, and luxury accommodation. Worryingly, this is just the start of the build to rent boom, over 3,800 units have been built, and there are 12,767 still in the pipeline. This explosion of the sector should highlight that it does not need any further government incentives. Indeed, across the UK the industry received over £1bn in investment from North America in the last quarter of 2024 alone. Developers' push for exemptions only highlights the business model they are touting. The bill, as introduced, already allows for above inflation rent increases, and so lobbyists' greedy demands for more exposes a model that is more concerned with creating dividends for overseas investors than delivering on the needs of Scotland's people. The government is deeply misguided if it thinks that expensive, luxury accommodation is going to fix our housing emergency. These are development sites which can and should be used for much-needed and genuinely affordable housing for social rent. Also proposed for exemption are mid-market properties. Mid-market tenants are some of the most vulnerable in our housing system. Apparently designated for tenants with low to middle incomes, mid-market properties exist to ensure that those unable to afford rents in the private sector and who cannot access social housing are able to better afford their housing costs. By threatening to exclude mid-market tenants from rent controls, this will see mid-market landlords able to increase rent however high they like with tenants left with no recourse to challenge it. For example, this summer at Water Row mid-market development in Govan, tenants were hit with a 10.6% rent increase after being given a rent increase of 39% before they had even moved in. The rent increase was delivered despite a previous commitment to keep rent below the local housing allowance. However, tenants had no legal recourse to challenge. It was only through Living Rent members organising together and fighting back did the landlord eventually concede and cancel the rent increase. This government needs to stop listening to the empty threats of landlords and legislate to protect those who have been most impacted by decades of mismanaged housing policy. Scotland's tenants need universal and comprehensive rent controls that bring rents down. Anything short of this will ruin the housing bill, undermine the possibility of a more just housing system for years to come, and damage the wavering trust that Scotland's tenants have that politicians will take the urgent action needed to end the national housing emergency. Ruth Gilbert is the national campaign chair of Living Rent
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Labour council ‘using socialist sledgehammer' to impose LTN
A Labour-run council has been accused of using a 'socialist sledgehammer' to establish a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) without proper consultation. The Kennington Triangle LTN, planned to cover streets in both Lambeth and Southwark, has provoked anger from local representatives who say Lambeth council has not informed them of the decision. The dispute comes months after a judge ruled that the same council must scrap an LTN in West Dulwich, saying Lambeth council had ignored residents' 'legitimate concerns' about the zone. Metropolitan Tabernacle Baptist Church said the Kennington scheme would 'adversely affect' its long-standing work in support of elderly worshippers. The church also runs weekly youth activities for more than 400 children, bringing many of them door-to-door using minibuses. It said the incoming traffic restrictions would block vehicle access, and reduce the street parking needed for staff and their accessible transport. Neighbouring area 'ignored' by council Graham Neale, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Southwark council, said as many as 1,500 homes could be affected on the Southwark side, including two 40-floor tower blocks, but no effort was made to consult elected officials or service providers in the area. 'They've used this sort of socialist sledgehammer. It's just the wrong way of going about it,' he said. He described the process as 'a dog's breakfast', claiming Lambeth officials failed to name any Southwark contacts when asked, and had only engaged with stakeholders inside their own borough. 'They consulted Lambeth libraries, schools, community groups, but nobody in Southwark,' he said. 'Residents have seen Lambeth flyers and are bombarding me with questions.' The LTN has been championed by Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Lambeth council's deputy leader, who was recently urged to resign after a judge ruled she had misled the High Court over the separate traffic scheme in West Dulwich. Mr Justice Smith ruled in May that the council had ignored residents' 'legitimate concerns' about the zone. It is the first time that an LTN, a zone where traffic is restricted in residential roads and fines are issued to unauthorised vehicles that enter the area, has been shut down by the courts. Campaigners from the West Dulwich Action Group said it set 'a powerful precedent' for residents locked in similar battles nationwide. A Southwark council spokesman said: 'We have worked closely with Lambeth Council to ensure residents in both boroughs have the opportunity to share their views. We will carefully review all responses once this initial engagement exercise is complete and will make a decision once we have weighed up all of the facts, ensuring it reflects the needs and concerns of local residents.' A Lambeth council spokesman said: 'We are committed to consulting with as many stakeholders as possible on these proposals to make local streets safer, cut harmful air pollution and improve people's health. 'That consultation is ongoing, we have distributed the engagement materials to people who live in Southwark, within the scheme area and beyond, to ensure people have a way of participating and provide their feedback. The proposals are still at formative stage and people have until July 7 to respond.''
