Andrew Harrop

NEW POST - National Care Service: A Quiet First Step

The government has taken a big step towards creating the National Care Service without telling anyone!

...all in one paragraph of this summer's Fair Funding proposals for local government finance

cradle2grave.substack.com/p/national-c...

1. New data shows employers investing 36% less in training per employee than in 2005 in real terms. This is both a cause and consequence of low economic growth & policy instability. It comes alongside a £1bn (20%) real terms cut in Government investment in adult skills in England compared to 2010.

Things that could get overlooked?

- turning saving pots into pensions for life

- pushing saving beyond minimum defaults

- urgent action to dig Gen X out of a hole

Top of commissioners’ in-tray:

- whether and how to raise pension contributions

- state pension adequacy & affordability

- tackling inequalities & widening access

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The Pensions Commission resurrected A comprehensive review of pensions adequacy could lead to higher retirement incomes and lower inequalities

New substack post: The pensions commission resurrected

- Incomes for private pensions are set to plunge in the next 2 decades

- Almost half of working age adults aren’t saving

Will the new review find answers?

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cradle2grave.substack.com/p/the-pensio...

The government’s Pensions Commission, launched on monday, presents an important opportunity to address these challenges.

To find out more about how to help end pensioner poverty, read ‘Mature decisions’ & 'When I'm 64' 👇

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

Higher income Gen-Xers are in for a HUGE shock re their (our!) retirement incomes. DWP stats show a high-earner retiring in 2043 will have 13% LESS income than their 2027 peer.

With policy change ruled out until 2030, ministers are leaving 40/50s to sort for themselves

www.gov.uk/government/s...

(3) permission to think about:

- non-pension assets ('and wider savaings')
- income/work problems before state pension age ('supporting those approaching retirement')
- long-term, macro issues of ageing (...could go anywhere?)

(4) As expected, no policies to take effect this parliament

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Pensions Commission: Terms of Reference

Immediate thoughts on the Pensions Commission terms of reference:

(1) exclusively about future pensioners (are there no issues facing current cohorts?)

(2) to focus on lowest income / risk of poverty AND biggest under-savers (these are mainly not the same people)

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www.gov.uk/government/p...

Framing the Future | Fabian Society Fabian Society

Today I'm feeling nostalgic for this 2020 joint report from @thefabians.bsky.social & @brightblueuk.bsky.social on the case for a new PENSIONS COMMISSION.

Only 5 years too soon... with lots of ideas on how to make the commission work re remit, operation & impact

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

Great thread on tax patterns from Matt, showing rich(-ish) are earning more and paying more of the national pie, and middle are earning less and paying less

The proof that benefits pay more than a full-time job Unemployed people on sickness benefits are to receive thousands of pounds more per year than some workers

The 'work disincentive' argument implied here is completely disingenuous because people would keep PIP (& a decent chunk of their UC) if they moved into work

The vast majority of people in this position would rather be working if their health allowed 2/2 www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

People on benefits earning more than millions of minimum-wage workers A think tank has warned that ‘perverse incentives’ within the benefits system mean that welfare can sometimes be more lucrative than employment

The @csjthinktank.bsky.social don’t seem to understand the benefit system they and their patron designed!

PIP and UC rightly make disabled people much better off if they work on the minimum wage than if they don’t

www.thetimes.com/article/d6ed...

‘Punishing workers for getting old’: how South Korea’s wage system impoverishes the elderly As nation moves to raise retirement age, new report warns the real problem isn’t when people retire, but how

Wow - how not to do ageing, work and retirement

Assumptions, untruths & prejudices here we defeated 20+ years ago in the UK (though always more to do)

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

And of course there is always the call for ‘a Minister for X thing’

Has Keir Starmer's "honeymoon" really been that bad? New analysis by my colleague Damayanti Chatterjee and me.Looking at a range of measures, the Prime Minister's honeymoon has been the second-best performing after Tony Blair. What is remarkable is how ...

Just looking at the stats, Starmer’s had the best start since Blair.

Counterintuitive analysis from my fab Public First colleagues Scott Corfe & Damayanti Chatterjee

www.scottcorfe.com/post/has-kei...

Astonishing story. Huge questions over the company culture that allowed this. www.ft.com/content/c0e6...

Latest poll has 43% across two main parties of the right - +5 on 2024 general election 38% in an early/midterm poll - with > 50% across various centre/left parties.

Labour's route to being 30-33% party rather than a 25% party would be mostly from consolidating centre-left votes (in Lab-held seats)

To all who think capitalism can drive progressive change, it won’t – and here’s the shocking proof | Polly Toynbee Asset manager Aberdeen’s surprise cut to funding research into inequality has left those that used its grants for good work reeling, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Appalled to read this. A critical funder of UK social and fiscal policy research has just been summarily dumped, along with its key staff and trustees. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Yes

Too high stakes Labour's benefit reform plan places too much financial risk on a single assessment decision

Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and basing all health benefits on a revised PIP assessment could see incomes plummet for millions more on a single high stakes decision

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cradle2grave.substack.com/p/too-high-s...

In charts: why Labour MPs are rebelling over Starmer’s welfare reforms The prime minister’s benefits overhaul would hit the UK’s poorest

Worth remembering that the bill and this analysis only take in the FIRST phase of the proposed changes

The second stage could be even more impactful

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on.ft.com/3GdQt6z

In charts: why Labour MPs are rebelling over Starmer’s welfare reforms

There would. Tactics very puzzling but too late for ministers now. It could have been drawn out into the Autumn with no single set-piece moment

I’m still not sure why this bill is even needed.

The key provisions tightening PIP assessment could be done through 2ndry legislation

Our Policy Advisor, @andrewharrop.bsky.social, has identified four changes in the Pension Schemes Bill that could make a real difference to low-income Britain.

Read his blog to find out more: buff.ly/YDDxSCy

UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy The Strategy sets out the government's long-term plan for economic, housing and social infrastructure to drive growth.

The government published its infrastructure strategy today setting out how it plans to invest over the next decade. Overall, long-term investment planning is most welcome but there's still a lot up for grabs. A short thread...

Does the pensions bill deliver for low-earners? The Pension Schemes Bill is genuinely good news for low-income savers but it could be made even better

Does the pensions bill deliver for low earners?

New Substack post on why the bill will make a difference… and how it could be made even better

cradle2grave.substack.com/p/does-the-p...

Yeah, I don't get this either!

Is the UC and PIP Bill actually needed to implement the government's welfare cuts policy?

Its main provisions revise regulations (on PIP assessment and UC elements) and suspend uprating reviews which are not binding. Not obvious that an act is required.

publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...