News story

2nd July 2002

Government Incompetent in Assuming Reliability of Figures

Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, commenting on the £34billion pension savings miscalculation in Government figures, said:

"There is a black hole in the Government pension policy. It was incompetent in the extreme for the Government not to question the reliability of the figures.

"They have been complacently assuming that all is well with pensions' contributions based on incorrect figures. Yet at the same time the newspapers are full of reports of employers closing their company pension schemes.

"The Government must now take urgent action to ensure that many millions of today's workers do not end up in poverty in old age."

ENDS