Tag Archives: autumn budget

In the flurry of briefings ahead of the Chancellor’s autumn Budget, one rumoured measure risks doing more long-term damage than most people realise: a cap or cut to the salary-sacrifice pension scheme.

For those not steeped in the jargon, this is the mechanism that allows workers and employers to make pension contributions free of National Insurance. It’s one of the few genuinely effective incentives for people to save for retirement — particularly for those who don’t yet earn enough to make personal tax relief a meaningful motivator.

Yet according to multiple reports, the Treasury is considering capping the amount that can be contributed through salary sacrifice, potentially at just £2,000 a year. Beyond that, both employee and employer would pay full National Insurance. The Government hopes to raise around £2 billion annually from the change — a tiny sum in fiscal terms, but one that could hit younger and mid-career workers hardest.

As Claer Barrett, the Financial Times Consumer Editor, put it recently, the idea is “nuts” — especially given that the same Treasury is currently running a review aimed at encouraging higher pension contributions. Becky O’Connor from PensionBee warned that the move “will do untold damage to the savings system and hit younger workers hardest.” And Tom Selby of AJ Bell said it would “deter good employers from contributing more” — the exact opposite of what the country needs as we face rising longevity and care costs.

While it might seem politically expedient to “go after” higher earners, many of those affected — myself included — are people who started earning later because of university and postgraduate training. We missed the key early years of pension saving, and we’re unlikely to qualify for any other forms of state assistance in retirement. Weakening private pensions now doesn’t punish the rich — it punishes the responsible.

Why this matters for younger Liberals

Younger Liberals should care deeply about this. Many of today’s under-30s face a future where the state pension may not even exist in its current form. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects that by the 2050s, there will be barely two working adults for every pensioner. If we undermine private saving now, we are setting up an intergenerational time bomb — one that today’s youth will be forced to defuse.