Consultations run
by Nest

We recently consulted on making two amendments to the Nest Rules. The consultation on the proposed amendments to the Nest rules ran from 16 November 2023 to 16 January 2024. During this period, we did not receive any responses from the public. The Nest members’ panel and employers’ panel were supportive of the proposed rule changes.

Given the reasons for the changes set out in the consultation document, and with no comments received, we have decided to proceed with implementing the two rule changes as proposed in the consultation document and expect this to take effect from 5 August 2024. A full consultation response and the original consultation document can be found below.

Response to rule change consultation – 31 July 2024 (PDF)

Rule change - consultation – 16 November 2023 (PDF)

In June 2015 we published our final report following the Future of Retirement consultation: A Retirement Income Blueprint for Nest’s Members.

The blueprint sets out a retirement strategy suitable for Nest members. It’s based on far-reaching consultation which showed that for most savers contributing to a pension is ultimately about having an income when they stop working, but that access to ad-hoc cash lump sums is important.

The consultation also found that both in the UK and abroad providers like Nest have an important role to play in ensuring savers can access income as standard when they come to retire, whilst retaining flexibility into retirement.

The retirement income blueprint for Nest’s members sets out three building blocks to cover three phases of later life: from mid 60s to mid 70s, mid 70s to mid 80s and mid 80s and beyond.

These building blocks are:

• an income drawdown fund
• a cash lump sum fund
• a later life protected income fund

In the 2014 Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced changes to the ways that savers in pension schemes could use their retirement pots. The 2014 Pensions Bill also sets out additional options for occupational pensions to share risks. These changes provide a different regulatory framework for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.

We believe that the best way for us to develop our approach in light of significant regulatory change is through primary research, reviewing research conducted by other organisations and by seeking the expert views of colleagues in the industry.

In November 2014 we published the consultation report, The future of retirement (PDF) in order to develop:

• a thorough understanding of the needs and aspirations of Nest’s current and future membership

• better ways of engaging with members about their retirement options

• a better understanding of available approaches to investment and accessing savings in the current market

• an idea of how the market is likely to develop and innovate in response to consumer demand

The Pensions Act 2008 required the pension scheme we now know as Nest to be established. Nest’s predecessor the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) issued a joint consultation paper called the draft scheme order and rules. This was to help determine how the scheme would work.

View the summary of responses to the scheme order and rules (PDF)

Read an overview of the consultation on The legal structure of Nest (PDF)

A key challenge for the design of Nest is how members secure a retirement income. This consultation was initiated in December 2008.

View the summary of responses to Securing a retirement income (PDF)

Read an overview of the Securing a retirement income consultation (PDF)​

To pay for its set-up and running costs, Nest needs to charge its scheme members. The government proposed a combination charge that would be made up of an annual management charge (AMC) and a charge on contributions.

View the summary of responses to Choosing a charging structure (PDF)

Read an overview of the Choosing a charging structure consultation (PDF)