Fear of political interference is one of the leading factors stymieing the growth and development of the UK’s pension industry according to new research.

A new study by CoreData Research UK of the self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) industry has found the on-off tinkering by the British Government in relation to all things pension related has left both individuals and pension funds dismayed and hamstrung by uncertainty.

This is a sad irony considering a pension is meant to provide consumers with the exact opposite – certainty in retirement.

“How do I know what I’ll be able to use it [a SIPP] for in 15-20 years time, or that the advantages it has currently won’t be taken away?” – one participant in the research revealed.

“The government seems to be able to change the rules at will,” another noted.

Constant government tinkering with the rules, particularly under Gordon Brown’s reign as chancellor, but also under previous regimes, has created a climate of doubt and uncertainty.

In the past, some commentators have mooted the need for an independent pension authority, which would provide stability and rigour to pension policies, but predictably the government is extremely wary and reluctant to give up its powers over pensions in this way.

The desire for less political interference is particularly strong among group schemes covered in the SIPPs research – being placed as the single most important factor in making pensions more attractive.

Group SIPPs would allow employees access to SIPPs for investing bonuses or additional pension contributions and could also be used to link up share schemes and pension savings.

The latter concept, which would combine two sets of tax relief, could turbo-charge pension savings in the right circumstances.

But uncertainty over future government policy is a major concern among group schemes; schemes clearly feel that another u-turn could shatter one of the key attractions of a group SIPP and this is likely to hold them back from implementation.

As a result, those firms looking to set up group SIPPs need to work hard at getting reassurance from the government that tax relief on both share schemes and pensions is sacrosanct and that there is no problem over combining the two sets of relief by placing maturing shares under a pension wrapper.

Otherwise it will be a shame if a logical and very attractive employee benefit fails because the government has created a culture of ambiguity over what it will do next on pensions.