Part 3

Pensionable age

Periodic review of rules about pensionable age
27
1
The Secretary of State must from time to time—
a
review whether the rules about pensionable age are appropriate, having regard to life expectancy and other factors that the Secretary of State considers relevant, and
b
prepare and publish a report on the outcome of the review.
2
The first report must be published before 7 May 2017.
3
Each subsequent report must be published before the end of the period of 6 years beginning with the day on which the previous report was published.
4
For the purposes of each review, the Secretary of State must require the Government Actuary or Deputy Government Actuary to prepare a report for the Secretary of State on—
a
whether the rules about pensionable age mean that, on average, a person who reaches pensionable age within a specified period can be expected to spend a specified proportion of his or her adult life in retirement, and
b
if not, ways in which the rules might be changed with a view to achieving that result.
5
The Secretary of State must, for the purposes of a review, appoint a person or persons to prepare a report for the Secretary of State on other specified factors relevant to the review.
6
The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament any report prepared under this section.
7
For the purposes of subsection (4)—
a
a person's adult life is the part of the person's life after he or she reaches the specified age;
b
the proportion of a person's adult life spent in retirement is the proportion of his or her adult life spent after reaching pensionable age.
8
In this section—
- “pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995 (and “the rules about pensionable age” means those rules);
- “specified” means specified by the Secretary of State.