Experts have cast doubt on reforms "clueless" Labour says will boost pension pots by up to £29,000. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced changes aimed at boosting returns for pension savers. DWP said working people on an average salary saving into a pension over their working life could benefit by up to £29,000 by the time they retire thanks to proposed legislation consolidating small pension pots.

The Government said reforms detailed in its Pension Schemes Bill will help workers get "good" value from their pension savings. Under the legislation, pots worth £1,000 or less would be rolled into one "certified" pension scheme. Ministers insisted on Monday (July 7) that the reforms have widespread support from the pensions industry, but some professionals have questioned elements of the proposals. This includes DWP's promise of better returns.

David Belle, Founder and Trader at Fink Money, asked: "With regards to getting value for money from their pension, what is the benchmark? Will people know what the benchmark is? Will they just benchmark to inflation? To a major index like the S&P500?

"How can they say the returns will be good when they do not know the risk profile of the customer or have an objective definition of benchmark? We need to stop politicians doing things. Genuinely. They're clueless."

Anita Wright, Chartered Financial Planner at Anita Wright, said promising "good" returns for years on end was a fundamental fallacy as past performance is no guarantee of future results. She said: "Value for money cannot be judged solely on historic returns and framing it this way misleads savers into thinking future outcomes are predictable."

Ms Wright added phrases used by DWP to promote the reforms, such as "less hassle" and "more rewarding", oversimplified pensions and ignored the need for informed, long-term financial decision-making.

She said: "It implies that simplification is synonymous with improved outcomes, which is not always the case."

Scott Gallacher, Director at Rowley Turton, said he was sceptical about the headline £29,000 benefit. He added: "Simply consolidating a couple of small pension pots won't create that kind of windfall."

He continued: "No doubt most of the savings come from lower charges, but that's an area already capped in workplace pensions. It's good news for workers, but perhaps bad news for some pension companies. The real issue is that too many people live for today and don't save enough for retirement."

Samuel Mather-Holgate, Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial, agreed the pension industry is in need of a shake-up. He compared the Bill to attempting to get the general public to listen to an entire speech by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. He said: "No one's getting excited about it."

Mr Holgate warned: "The devil's in the detail and we'll see what the take up is like, but pension inertia is likely to remain even if switching is made easier."

Other experts queried the £1,000 limit for qualifying pension pots. Rob Mansfield, Independent Financial Advisor at Rootes Wealth Management, said lost pensions are a problem, but £1,000 is a "pretty low" limit. He asked: "How many people are going to have multiple pots under £1,000?"

Ross Lacey, Director and Independent Financial Adviser at Fairview Financial Management, said it was rare to find people with multiple small pension pots less than £1,000. He suggested £10,000 might have been a better threshold.

Despite the concerns, DWP hailed the proposed new rules as capable of resulting in pension "megafunds" of at least £25billion, with "bigger and better" schemes driving down costs and promoting investment in a wider range of assets.

Ministers also said the reforms will unlock long-term investment in the UK by removing barriers to economic growth. This would be on top of strengthening the security and governance of pension schemes. DWP said this will ultimately lead to better returns for people saving for retirement.

The Government estimated the £29,000 boost to retirement pots by assuming greater investment performance and pension savings are invested for longer.

DWP cited figures based on average annual earnings, which show a man working full-time will earn just over £37,000 a year and a woman just under £32,000.