Budget failed to reflect flexible savings idea

‘The Treasury wouldn’t want to allow employers to contribute to ISAs as an alternative to salary but I think it’s possible that, if employees said they wanted to put a certain amount of their money into an ISA, there could be some incentive for employers to do that, perhaps out of the pension contribution.’

Ministerial support

Webb showed his commitment to more flexible saving at an International Longevity Centre pensions conference, at which both he and Baroness Patricia Hollis, a Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) governor, argued for early access to pension funds.

However, conference panellist Chris Curry, research director at the PPI, said care must be taken over what kind of access is given and what policy makers wanted to achieve in terms of savings habits.

Early access to funds for emergencies and increasing the amount people save for retirement create different consequences for the tax system, he said.