Explanatory Memorandum

Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012

2012 CHAPTER 3

1 June 2012

Consultation

11.The paper When should the state pension age increase to 66 – A call for evidence was the subject of a consultation exercise carried out in Northern Ireland and Great Britain between 24 June 2010 and 6 August 2010. Two responses were received to the Northern Ireland consultation. Issues arising from the consultation were addressed in the Command Paper A sustainable State Pension: when the State Pension age will increase to 66 (Cm 7956) published in November 2010.

12.In 2010, the Department for Work and Pensions commissioned an external review team to re-examine the policy behind automatic enrolment. As part of this process the review team issued a call for evidence on the scope of the reforms and potential options for amending the policy. On 27 October 2010 the Westminster Government published the outcomes of the review in the report Making automatic enrolment work – a review for the Department for Work and Pensions.