More than £6 billion in pension freedom payments have been made since the reforms took effect, it was revealed this morning.

The total value comprises 772,000 payments since the launch in April 2015.

New HMRC figures showed 159,000 people have accessed £1.7 billion flexibly from their pension pots since April this year.

Pension Wise has had over 2.7 million visits to the website and nearly 75,000 appointments to date, according to the Government.

As part of the announcement today the Government reiterated its plans for a secondary annuities market from April 2017 – despite a number of experts suggesting this latest reform could be shelved. Some have suggested that the Brexit fall out will cause such changes to be put on ice while the Government deals with more pressing priorities related to the EU.

The annuity re-sales market would be giving millions more people the ability to sell income from their annuities, subject to agreement from their annuity provider, officials said.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, said: “It’s only right that people should have a choice over what they do with their money and today’s figures show that pension freedoms continue to be a popular choice.

“Our pension reforms have already given hundreds of thousands of people access and responsibility over their hard-earned savings and we will continue to make sure that the pension freedoms work well for everyone.

“We will work with our partners, such as Pension Wise and the Department for Work and Pensions, to ensure consumers are protected and that there is clear information to help people understand their options.”