Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people accessed personal pensions between (a) April 2015 and April 2016 and (b) April 2014 and April 2015.

Mr David Gauke

The Government does not have information on all payments from personal pensions taken since April 2014.

Information on the taxable element of pension flexibility lump sums taken since April 2015 is collated and published quarterly by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). However, this includes other types of private pensions such as occupational pensions, not just personal pensions. This also provides details of the number of people who have taken these payments. The publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions.

Equivalent information for the period April 2014 to April 2015 is not held, as HMRC only began to collect this information after the introduction of pensions freedom and choice.