UK – Andrew Smith, work and pensions secretary, has announced that the “Green Paper” on pensions reform will now be released at 15:30 GMT Tuesday 17 December. The paper had been expected to be released to coincide with the Chancellor’s pre-budget report.

The UK government promised back in July that the paper would be released in the autumn. Whether December 17 can be counted as autumn is a matter for debate. A spokeswoman at the department for work and pensions insisted that the paper “is not regarded as being delayed, as autumn officially runs up to December 22”.

She continued that “the most important thing is to get it right”. It is believed that there have been disagreements between the government and the treasury as to the paper’s contents, which may have led to the later than expected release date.

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