31.This Part of the Act contains provisions to reform the state pension system and introduce a new state pension. It replaces the current two-component system with a single-component flat-rate pension. It includes transitional provisions for:
people who have paid, been treated as having paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions in respect of tax years before the introduction of the new state pension;
inheriting entitlement from a late spouse or civil partner who had made National Insurance contributions in respect of tax years before the introduction of the new state pension;
women who, before 1977, elected to pay a reduced rate of National Insurance contributions; and
sharing certain state pension entitlement with a former spouse or civil partner upon divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership.
32.Provisions are made to allow people to postpone or suspend their entitlement to a state pension. It also contains provisions for a number of changes arising from the introduction of the new state pension, including the abolition of contracting-out for salary-related occupational pension schemes and the abolition of the savings credit element of state pension credit for those people who reach pensionable age on or after the introduction of the new state pension.