­Fidelity International set out six key priority areas for government policy on pensions, ahead of new Prime Minister Theresa May's first cabinet meeting.

The company says although some of the initiatives could be slowed down, ensuring automatic enrolment is executed is essential.

Head of Pensions at Fidelity, Richard Parkin, said: "The government has a lot on its plate at the moment and we do think there is scope to slow down on some things, most notably the Lifetime ISA."

"But we have to ensure automatic enrolment is seen through – getting people into a pension plan is the first hurdle to delivering good retirement outcomes."

Automatic-enrolment is the number one priority, according to Fidelity, which says small employers still need to get on board and the minimum contribution needs to be raised to 8%.

"Many have complained these minimums are not enough, and they're right, but the focus has to be on people getting enrolled," said Parkin.

The second priority identified is helping people make retirement decisions in the light of the recent pension freedoms.

Fidelity says "more needs to be done" to help consumers make the right choices with their retirement savings, including looking at how providers communicate with customers in the run up to age 55.

Thirdly, according to Fidelity, more time could be allocated to the implementation of the Lifetime ISA.

It says more development time for HMRC and product providers is necessary if it is agreed that the government top up is paid monthly rather than annually.

Not rushing into more pension tax changes is the fourth priority, Fidelity said.

"The pensions industry is buzzing with suggestions that post-referendum economic challenges might put pension tax relief reform back on the agenda but we hope the government will do a lot more thinking around the approach and possible consequences before doing anything," said Parkin.

Fifth, Fidelity said, is making progress with the development of a pensions' dashboard, while the sixth priority is managing expectations around pensions.

"The consolidation of state pensions and the move to DC in the UK is a clear shift in responsibility for retirement from state to individual, which is well understood by pensions people but doesn't feel like it's fully sunk into the UK psyche," said Parkin.

First published 21.07.2016

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com