Fans of the television series The West Wing could be forgiven for thinking this is a remake of the famous ‘Take out the trash day‘ episode, where bad news is quietly disseminated while another event dominates the news cycle.
In February, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced it was planning to “swiftly” introduce a ban but failed to set an exact date.
This followed the government outlining plans in November 2017 to protect pension savers from the threat of scammers – including a cold calling ban.
Another consultation
But on 12 July, the economic secretary to HM Treasury, John Glen, “laid before parliament a ministerial statement” to set out the progress on a ban on pensions cold calling.
Describing it as “an important and complex issue”, Glen acknowledged the “devastating consequences” pension scams can have.
“Cold calling is the most common method used to initiate pensions scams, so the government have taken the time to ensure the ban works for consumers,” he said.
A consultation will be published “imminently” seeking views on a set of draft regulations to ban pensions cold calling.
“Once we have considered all responses to the consultation, in the autumn we intend to lay regulations under the affirmative procedure and subject to parliamentary approval bring the regulations into force as soon as possible thereafter.”
