Moray MP Douglas Ross has praised the success of the UK Government’s automatic enrolment pension scheme, which has now been in place for a decade.
The scheme which sees employers who meet certain requirements automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme, has now signed up 7,000 employees in Moray.
Figures from the Pension Regulator also show that 1,680 employers in Moray are also compliant with the scheme’s requirements.
Douglas says that the scheme has normalised workplace pension saving for people and gives them confidence that they will have a greater degree of security in later life than they might have done without such a straightforward scheme.
He has also welcomed measures by the UK Government to support the scheme even further as they look to abolish the lower earnings limit, and reduce the eligible age to 18.
Across the UK, the number of young people aged 22 to 29 contributing into schemes more than doubled over the course of the decade.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “The Automatic Enrolment scheme has been a straightforward yet hugely innovative way to ensure more employees are signed up to workplace pension schemes.
“That is now borne out in these figures. It is fantastic news that 7,000 workers in Moray are part of such schemes, without having to go through any sort of complex process at all.
“Combined with almost 1,700 employers being compliant with the scheme, it shows that this UK Government pension process is delivering for people in Moray.
“It has normalised workplace pension saving for many younger people and given them confidence that they will have more financial security in decades to come.
“It is also extremely welcome that the UK Government are looking to expand the scheme even further, in particular by lowering the eligible age to 18.
“I am confident numbers enrolled among employees in Moray will continue to grow even further over the next decade and I applaud the UK Government for the success automatic enrolment has enjoyed so far.”