About the workshop
The length and diversity of UK experience in running pension schemes is without rival in the world. This workshop will explore the rich mix of public and private pension schemes provided in the UK; how they are structured, how they are integrated into an overall system of social protection; how they are financed, managed and regulated; and how they cope with the latest crises.
What the workshop will cover
The workshop will focus on:
• The desired outcomes from a pension system and design features that contribute to their achievement
• How UK Government policy on the mix and delivery of public and private pensions has been developed in recent years and future directions that it may take
• Organising, reforming and delivering public sector pensions for sustainability. efficiency and stronger governance
• Financing, organising, governing, regulating and supervising work-based pension schemes and arrangements, and boosting participation in them, whilst embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles
• Pre-empting and responding to the impacts on membership, employer support and investment from crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic
• Consumer experience of the UK pension system – challenges and responses
• The importance of designing pension systems that benefit women as well as men
It will include interactive lectures and discussions, briefings by senior practitioners, representatives of independent public bodies, managers of occupational and personal pension schemes and pensioners’ representatives, along with group visits to various pension providers. Previous participants have benefitted from sessions from the Department for Work and Pensions and the London Pension Fund Authority as well as visits to the Pension Protection Fund and the Head of Pensions at UNISON, the Public Service Union.
How participants will benefit
The workshop will:
• Broaden your knowledge of public and private pension schemes, their management and regulation and how they can be updated to improve coverage, adequacy, sustainability, efficiency and security
• Enable you to learn from the practical experience of policy makers, administrators and managers
• Enable you to consider the UK experience in relation to the a broader (World Bank) framework for assessing pensions
• Assist you in applying the UK experience to the situation in your own country
• Provide you with an opportunity to exchange experience with counterparts from other countries