Personal pensions accounts will have to put the interest of members of the schemes “at their heart” if they are to gain the confidence of people who do not currently save towards retirement, work and pensions minister John Hutton has argued.

Putting savers’ interests at the centre of the scheme would mean making personal accounts trust-based, he explained, speaking at a National Association of Pension Funds conference.

The government also plans to install a members’ panel feeding members’ insights into the running of the scheme, the minister stressed.

Building customers’ confidence around the scheme using feedback mechanisms such as the members’ panel would be vital, “given the scale of personal accounts”, he acknowledged.

Personal pensions accounts would be primarily targeted at groups who do not yet have pensions provision, Mr Hutton reiterated.

“The aim of the scheme is to complement rather than compete with existing quality provision,” he said.

Personal pensions accounts are due to be introduced in 2012.

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