When will we act to stop the pension raiders?

AFTER the company I worked for, Belling & Co. Ltd, and the Mirror group went bust with gaping holes in their pension funds in the Nineties, I was invited to give evidence to the House of Commons Social Security Committee, chaired by Frank Field.

What lessons did the Committee and successive governments learn from my advice about pension reform? None.

We have had the Tata Steel pension fund crisis and here we are, yet again, with Carillion going bust with a huge pension deficit.

For the past 20 years, I have sent a summary of the problems and proposed solutions to every prime minister, but nothing has been done to address the issue. I have little doubt that fewer than half of occupational schemes would be able to pay full pensions if they were to close immediately.

Within ten years, occupational schemes will be all but extinct. Future generations will be poorer than previous ones as the cascading down of wealth shrinks year on year due to smaller pensions, fewer homeowners and the sale of family homes to pay for social care costs.

So why buy a home and save more than you are forced to if you are a low or middle earner?

You might as well enjoy life in a rented property, save a minimal pension and let the state help pay your rent and top up your pension when you retire.

At least there has been a happy ending for Belling pensioners like me, with a trust fund making up the shortfall. JAMES WIGNALL, Accrington, Lancs.