Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 12 November 2025.
Blake Stephenson
Conservative, Mid Bedfordshire
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to encourage self-employed workers to pay into private pension funds.
Torsten Bell
The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The proportion of the self-employed who are saving into a pension has fallen significantly from almost 50% in the late 1990s to less than 20% at present. While self-employed workers are not eligible for Automatic Enrolment, the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) must accept individuals who are self-employed, meeting certain conditions, who wish to join a pension scheme.
The Department is currently working with Nest Insight and partners to test potential solutions. The Pensions Commission will also explore steps to improve pension outcomes, especially for those at the greatest risk of undersaving, such as self-employed workers.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
