Lib Dem Conference 2011: Webb on operation 'Big Fat Pension Pot'

Pensions minister Steve Webb has confirmed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will this autumn propose reforms to the system of transferring small pension pots.

Current rules mean there are difficulties in combining small pots, which presents further problems as annuity providers rarely sell products for less than £5,000.

In his speech to the Liberal Democrat conference today, Webb said the DWP will help people with several stranded pots.

"We have an operation in the department, called ‘Operation Big Fat Pension Pot'," he said.

"I want to help people put those small pension pots together and in the autumn there will be a document setting out options for how to do that."

Under current rules, if the sum of an individual's pension funds is less than £18,000, (or 1% of the lifetime allowance for that tax year) it is considered "trivial", and if the individual is aged between 60 and 75 the money can be "commuted" or withdrawn.

Most of that sum would be taxed at 20% as income, whilst 25% would be tax free.

There is another trivial rule for stranded occupational pension pots, which can be withdrawn as lump sums if they are less than £2,000.