• New report sets out how deliberative democracy could build trust and surface public consensus on pensions reform
  • Cross‑industry group urges policymakers to integrate citizen participation into the next phase of reform – including a Citizens’ Assembly to support the Pensions Commission

The public must be brought into decisions about the future of UK pensions if the system is to deliver fair and sustainable retirements, proposes a new report published today, commissioned by a cross-industry group.

The report, Deliberative Democracy & Pensions: Building a democratic mandate for pensions reform, sets out the case for using deliberative approaches to give citizens an informed voice in shaping pensions policy. It argues that, as individuals increasingly bear responsibility and risk for their retirement outcomes, any new pensions settlement must be shaped by the citizens whose futures depend on it.

The scoping project was delivered by participation specialists New Citizen Project and funded and supported by the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Pensions UK, People’s Pension, Nest Pensions, Nest Insight and Johnny Timpson OBE.

Call for a Citizens’ Assembly on pensions

A central recommendation of the report is the commissioning of a Citizens’ Assembly on the future of UK pensions. This will support the work of the Pensions Commission and inform decision‑making by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the coming months and years. The group is offering to support the development of this.

Deliberative democracy brings together a representative group of the public, supports them to understand complex issues, hear diverse perspectives and weigh evidence‑based trade‑offs. This enables people to develop informed, considered views that go beyond headline opinions or polling, and can provide policymakers with a clearer sense of genuine public consensus.

With the Pensions Commission tasked with improving private pension adequacy and addressing the financial challenges faced by underserved groups such as lower earners, the report suggests that citizen involvement can strengthen policymakers’ understanding of what the public considers to be a fair and sustainable pensions system.

The report identifies three distinct but complementary ways to embed citizen voices at the heart of pensions policymaking:

  • a Citizens’ Assembly on the future of UK pensions
  • public dialogues with defined cohorts
  • an open call for public submissions

Catherine Foot, Director of The Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, said:

“Public involvement and consultation are not new to pensions policy. Following the recommendations of the 2006 Pensions Commission, the Department for Work and Pensions commissioned the National Pensions Debate. But what has changed is the sophistication of deliberative methods and our understanding of how they can support complex policymaking.

“Today’s pensions challenges involve difficult trade‑offs and long‑term consequences. Deliberative approaches stand out for their ability to support the public to engage with these issues in a meaningful way, helping policymakers to ground reform in public values as well as technical evidence.”

Johnny Timpson OBE, Financial Inclusion Commissioner & Financial Services Consumer Panel Member, said:

“It’s long past time for pensions reform to move away from being a distant, technical and expert-driven exercise, and towards an approach that is grounded in public values and consensus across the generations that it seeks to serve and support.

“I view public engagement and deliberation as essential. Change must be done with individuals, not to them, particularly at a time when the state pension system faces questions over sustainability and there is a need to address the pension adequacy challenge. Every reform, including doing nothing, involves difficult trade-offs and risk transfers to individuals, whether through raising retirement ages or changes to auto-enrolment contribution rates. These are decisions that affect people’s lives for decades.”

Alexandra Miles FIA, Chair of the Pensions Gap and Ageing Population Working Parties, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, said: 

"In UK pensions, our work shows too many people are still not well served by the system. Deliberative approaches give us a way to build reforms with all citizens to create a settlement that is fair, sustainable, and legitimate. When embedded on an ongoing basis, deliberative democracy offers a way to strengthen trust and legitimacy by giving citizens a real voice in decisions that shape the future of their retirements.”

Zoe Alexander, Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy at Pensions UK, said: 

“People are increasingly being asked to take more responsibility for decisions about their retirement, often against the backdrop of complex and unpredictable working lives. Meanwhile, pensions policy decisions involve complex trade‑offs and long‑term consequences that affect people’s lives in very different ways.

“Crucially, by shaping the system not just through expert opinion but through the lived experiences of those it is designed to serve, a deliberative democracy approach can look at the system as a whole – from workplace saving through to the State Pension and tax – building trust in pensions reform and ensuring future policy reflects what people genuinely value and need.”

Camilla Egginton, Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer at Nest Pensions, said:

“As responsibility for retirement outcomes has shifted from employers to individuals, it has become increasingly important for pension schemes to understand how savers perceive the decisions shaping their futures.

“At Nest, we recently convened a deliberative Member Assembly and found that, when given the opportunity, members are willing to engage with complex questions about how their money is invested. Low day-to-day engagement should not be mistaken for indifference.

“Our experience shows that deliberative approaches enable people to weigh trade-offs, form informed views, and play a constructive role alongside expert-led policymaking.”

Irenie Ekkeshis, Co-Founder and Director at New Citizen Project, added:

"By bringing together a representative sample of the population to learn together, deliberate, weigh trade-offs and make collective recommendations, deliberative democracy can complement existing approaches and enhance policy development.

This has been a genuinely collaborative project, with thoughtful input from across the pensions sector, considering a variety of perspectives. We are incredibly hopeful about the momentum we have built together, and look forward to seeing how this vital work develops."

-ENDS-

About the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement

  • Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement is a pioneering UK think tank with a bold ambition to help everyone achieve long-term financial security.
  • How we work, save, and retire is changing, and it will look different for everyone. That traditional idea of spending decades in full-time employment and then retiring with a comfortable, guaranteed income is no longer going to be a reality for most people.  
  • Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement uses research to provoke fresh debate, drive action and influence change so that people can secure their financial future and enjoy a decent standard of living in their later lives.
  • It is led by Catherine Foot, a leading research and policy specialist who was appointed as the Director of the think tank under its previous brand, Phoenix Insights, in June 2021.
  • Catherine has over 20 years of experience in the field. From 2015 to 2021, she was Director of Evidence at the Centre for Ageing Better. She has also held senior roles with The King’s Fund and Cancer Research UK.

About Standard Life plc (‘Standard Life’)

  • Standard Life is a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement saving and income.
  • We are proud to manage around c£317bn in assets on behalf of our 12 million customers, and we champion the belief that everyone's journey to and through retirement can be better. 
  • With our focus entirely on retirement savings and income we want to be the business that people trust to guide their retirement journey, helping our customers achieve better outcomes and greater financial security in later life. 
  • As a FTSE 100-listed group we are using our size, expertise and influence to shape the world our customers will retire into, and are committed to helping three million more customers by 2035, take action towards a better retirement. 
  • Standard Life is a responsible investor with a clear commitment to supporting a more sustainable future. The Group has achieved its net zero goal across its emissions for 2025 and is working towards net zero investment portfolios by 2050 or sooner.
  • Standard Life is recognised as a leading employer, with long-standing accreditation as a Living Wage Employer, Living Pension Employer and Carer Positive Exemplary Employer and in 2025 became one of Britain’s Most Admired Companies in 2025.

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