‘Inaccurate’ pensions statistics slammed by review chief

Government
pension statistics have been criticised for being “inadequate” by the man
appointed to review the private pensions system.

Adair
Turner said his review, due to be published on 12 October, had been delayed by
the paucity of government information on pensions, reports The Times.

It
was made even more difficult because the Government Actuary’s Department was
over-optimistic in its mortality predictions, the paper reported.

Turner
claims he spent five months at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), trying
to find data sufficiently accurate to use in his review.

The
ONS recently cut its estimate of how much money Britons put aside in pensions
savings in 2002 by £12bn – an amount described by Turner as “not trivial”.

Turner
chairs the Pensions Commission, which is examining the state of private
pensions and long-term savings in the UK.

An
interim report is expected next month, and final recommendations on the future
of the pensions system are due after the next election.

By Johann Tasker

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