The plans include an online retirement planner which will be used to give individuals a clear overall picture of their retirement prospects, based on personalised information about both their state pension and any private provision. The planner will help individuals to find out how working longer or saving more can help any saving shortfall.

Mr Smith explained: ‘The decisions people make about retirement are among the most important they face. We all get a lot of information on pensions, but too often we don’t understand how it relates to our own retirement prospects. Government must help provide people with trustworthy, individually-tailored information that simply explains their situation and the options available to them.’