The Pensions Bill was originally introduced into the House of Commons as Bill 57 on 12 February 2004. After a great deal of alteration and expansion in Standing Committee, very largely by the Government itself, it emerged at the end of April as Bill 96. The Government then took advantage of the 3-day Report stage debate in the Commons to introduce a further raft of new Clauses and amendments . These were incorporated into a third version of this work-in-progress, HL Bill 73, which is now being considered by the House of Lords.

Yet more changes to the Pensions Bill are guaranteed. On 11 June 2004 - the 1st anniversary of the DWP's publication "Action on Occupational Pensions" - the Government announced one further major change. No money purchase pension coming into payment after the legislation comes into force will have to provide LPI (ie RPI indexation, up to a maximum of 5%). The necessary changes to post-97 arrangements are be made via primary legislation (presumably the current Bill) and to pre-97 arrangements via Regulations. The announcement does not go as far as Pickering's recommendation of 11 July 2002, namely that there should be no such prescription on any form of pension. Defined benefit pensions will still be subject to LPI, albeit as amended by Clause 266, which alters s.51 of PA 95 to halve the ceiling on RPI for pensions entirely attributable to pensionable service after the commencement day.

The removal of LPI from future money purchase arrangements offers a genuine simplification, and should also significantly reduce the future number of annuities 'unsourceable' on the open market owing to the very small sums involved. At the moment, for example, a contracted-out occupational money purchase fund might have to be used to buy at least 3 separate annuities - pre-97 protected rights, pre-97 non-PRs, and post-97 rights. It is likely to be one of the most widely-welcomed innovations of the Pensions Bill.