Scope and Objectives


What we do

The OPA expresses the views of all member associations whether representatives of traditional Final Salary Schemes (Defined Benefit), Career Average Schemes and Money Purchase Schemes (Defined Contribution) or hybrids of these types of scheme.

The Alliance policy is determined by the Council in consultation with its member associations. It lobbies parliament and responds to government enquiries on any matters concerning occupational pensions. Our constitution is available here.

The OPA’s services to members include keeping members informed on current pension issues and offering advice based on other member associations’ experiences (but not legal advice).

The OPA also conducts surveys of its members’ schemes to help Council formulate our policies. Please see how you can help in this.

The OPA also offers to those who do not have their own websites the hosting of single webpages to publicise details of individual member associations.

Would you like to join us? See How to Join

 

What We Seek:

The OPA believes that the protection and promotion of good occupational pension schemes is vital for the well being of today’s and future pensioners. To achieve this the Government must:

  • Provide incentives to companies to support, sustain and grow their occupational pension schemes, including defined benefit systems.
  • Ensure that pension promises are met so incentivising younger people to save.
  • Encourage best practice principles of scheme governance such as having an independent chairman of the trustees. More..
  • Implement the commitment to having 50% of the trustees selected by the membership without further delay. More..
  • Increase the Basic State Pension to above the poverty level to remove the problems associated with the means test and to simplify the system to make it easier for younger people to make decisions about pension saving.
  • Establish a permanent Pensions Commission in line with theTurner Report recommendations. Pension policy continuity is impossible when there have been 16 pension ministers in 12 years.
  • No deregulation should be undertaken which could weaken the protection of our pensions which, even after all the recent legislation, is still proving to be vulnerable to predatory attacks by the unscrupulous. More..

 

 

The strongest power for good there could be is the engagement of the scheme members.  That power is stifled by current laws that allow scheme members to be patronised and misled,  while scheme member associations are unable to compete with the lobbying from those who make a living out of pension provision.