Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- one Introduction
- two Partnerships, quasi-networks and social policy
- three Partnership and the remaking of welfare governance
- four What is a ‘successful’ partnership and how can it be measured?
- five Partnership at the front-line: the WellFamily service and primary care
- six Building capacity for collaboration in English Health Action Zones
- seven Partnerships for local governance: citizens, communities and accountability
- eight Partnerships with the voluntary sector: can Compacts work?
- nine Dangerous liaisons: local government and the voluntary and community sectors
- ten ‘Together we’ll crack it’: partnership and the governance of crime prevention
- eleven Regeneration partnerships under New Labour: a case of creeping centralisation
- twelve Education Action Zones
- thirteen Public–private partnerships – the case of PFI
- fourteen Public–private partnerships in pensions policies
- fifteen Towards a theory of welfare partnerships
- Index
fourteen - Public–private partnerships in pensions policies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- one Introduction
- two Partnerships, quasi-networks and social policy
- three Partnership and the remaking of welfare governance
- four What is a ‘successful’ partnership and how can it be measured?
- five Partnership at the front-line: the WellFamily service and primary care
- six Building capacity for collaboration in English Health Action Zones
- seven Partnerships for local governance: citizens, communities and accountability
- eight Partnerships with the voluntary sector: can Compacts work?
- nine Dangerous liaisons: local government and the voluntary and community sectors
- ten ‘Together we’ll crack it’: partnership and the governance of crime prevention
- eleven Regeneration partnerships under New Labour: a case of creeping centralisation
- twelve Education Action Zones
- thirteen Public–private partnerships – the case of PFI
- fourteen Public–private partnerships in pensions policies
- fifteen Towards a theory of welfare partnerships
- Index
Summary
Introduction
[The government's approach involves a] new public–private partnership building on the best features of state and private provision … the share of national income devoted to pensions will increase, but a higher proportion will come from private, funded pensions.… Currently, about 60% of pension income is accounted for by the State and 40% by the private sector. As a result of the reforms set out in this Green Paper, the State's share is expected to fall to around 40% by 2050. (DSS, 1998, pp 30-1)
Our reforms are designed to ensure that the UK pensions system remains one of the best in the world.… Occupational pensions are one of the greatest success stories of the 20th century. Funded pensions offer millions of people the best prospects of a decent and secure income in retirement. (Darling, 1999)
The rhetoric of ‘partnership’ has been prevalent for a long time in the field of pensions in the UK. The ‘partners’ are seen as the state on the one hand, and a mixed group of employers, insurance companies and financial institutions on the other. Use of the term ‘partnership’, however, seems to be largely cosmetic. The relationship could equally well be described as ‘privatisation’ or ‘subcontracting’.
The essence of the UK approach is that the pension provided through state social insurance (or National Insurance), though close to universal, is very low in comparison to other developed countries. Non-state providers are then encouraged by generous tax advantages to ‘fill the gap’ and by further subsidies (in terms of reduced National Insurance contributions) to take over a part of the pension commitments the government would otherwise have carried. The ‘partnership’ has in the past also involved comparatively light regulation of employers and the pension funds themselves (though the tax and National Insurance subsidies have always come with generous helpings of red tape). In recent years, regulation has been considerably tightened, but certain elements are in the process of being relaxed again after complaints from the private pensions providers.
This chapter concentrates on the social welfare issues raised by ‘partnerships’ in pensions, rather than the economic issues. However, there is an equally interesting debate to be had about the way in which the state has worked with (and for) the vast financial power of the pension funds and insurance companies (see Minns, 2001).
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- Information
- Partnerships, New Labour and the Governance of Welfare , pp. 213 - 228Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2002