Chancellor's pension changes criticised by select committee chairman

Dame Anne Begg has criticised the government for launching a major overhaul of the pension system without considering the long-term effect.

Speaking at Incisive Media conference Pensions and Benefits UK, Begg (pictured) - chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee - said it was "strange" that the Chancellor announced the changes before running a consultation. She questioned whether the decision to give defined contribution (DC) savers much more freedom on how they take their pension pot would benefit the majority of workers. Begg added that the changes had more to do with short-term tax advantages than long-term policy and said they would be difficult to implement them by the April 2015 deadline. She told the d...