339.The Government’s proposals for the reform of the pensions system in Britain were set out in the Green Paper A new contract for welfare: PARTNERSHIP IN PENSIONS (Cm 4179), published in December 1998.
340.Key principles set out in the Green Paper were that the new pensions system should:
	improve pensions for low earners and carers by reforming SERPS with a more generous State Second Pension;
	introduce new stakeholder pensions for moderate and higher earners; and
	continue to support and strengthen the framework for occupational pension provision.
341.Some of the measures to achieve the above aims were introduced in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999*. These include the legislative framework for the introduction of stakeholder pensions. It is intended to implement stakeholder pensions from April 2001. These schemes will offer money purchase benefits to members, providing benefits related to the contributions paid by the members, together with the investment returns on those contributions (less charges). The charges will be subject to an upper limit.
342.Stakeholder pension schemes will be targeted at those with moderate earnings (around £10,000 to £20,000 a year) who want to save more for retirement but who do not have access to an occupational scheme and for whom many existing personal pensions can be unsuitable or expensive. They will be set up within an approved governance structure (the arrangements for the management and oversight of a pension scheme) and meet minimum standards intended to encourage more moderate earners to save for their retirement. However, everyone will be able to pay into such a pension scheme, regardless of whether they are in work or not.
343.The Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 also included legislation on several detailed proposals on occupational and personal pension schemes which were contained in the consultation document Strengthening the Pensions Framework that accompanied the 1998 Green Paper.
Part II: Pensions. Background – State Second Pension and Occupational and Personal Pensions Recent developments