AQW 17521/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 04/11/2024
Answered On Date: 25/11/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail what action he will be taking to encourage self-employed people to have a pension.

Answer:

Finding effective, durable, retirement savings solutions for self-employed individuals is a long-term challenge not just nationally but globally.

Whilst automatic enrolment into workplace pensions does not apply to the self-employed, individuals can arrange their own pension provision including through National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), personal pensions, stakeholder pensions and self-invested personal Pensions (SIPP). However there are specific barriers to pensions savings experienced by many self-employed people, including irregularity of income.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is exploring the feasibility of retirement savings solutions for the self-employed, however this work is long term. My officials continue to liaise with DWP officials on this work.