Former head of the Resolution think tank Torsten Bell is the new Pensions Minister after his predecessor was appointed City Minister following a six-month spell in the role.
Emma Reynolds’ abrupt job change follows Tulip Siddiq’s resignation from the Treasury over links to her aunt’s previous government in Bangladesh.
Torsten Bell became a new Labor MP at the last election after nine years as chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an economic and social policy think tank aimed at improving the living standards of people on low and middle incomes.
The Swansea West MP is also the author of ‘Great Britain? How we take back our future.’
Torsten Bell MP: Former head of the Resolution Foundation and author of ‘Britain? How we recover our future’
Before joining Resolution, he worked at the Treasury, as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and as policy director of the Labor Party.
At the Department for Work and Pensions he will take over a major review of pensions that Reynolds was carrying out.
This will seek to promote the Government’s plan to use people’s retirement savings to help boost economic growth, but it is feared it will also take on the challenge of reforming pension tax relief.
A raid on the wealthiest pension savers could raise billions of pounds for other government spending priorities, but would spark an outcry from those who lost generous savings incentives and require a major overhaul of pension administration.
The DWP is also preparing for another big rush to buy state pension supplements this spring ahead of a new deadline, which ended up being delayed twice amid the chaos two years ago.
This is Money readers have long complained about management and customer service problems at the DWP.
This is Money and our retirement columnist, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, have exposed a series of state pension underpayment scandals.
Other issues Bell will have to address include the long-delayed pension panel, the timing of an increase in the state retirement age to 68, and industry lobbying efforts for an expansion of automatic enrollment that were thwarted. during the Reynolds government.
Sophia Singleton, president of the Society of Pensions Professionals, says: “This is a particularly important time for pensions policy, with several consultations on rail, dashboards, value for money and other projects in the midst of progress and a much-needed review of pension adequacy having stalled during the previous Minister’s government.
“We therefore look forward to working with the new Minister to drive forward these important initiatives and implement the most effective and evidence-based pensions policy possible.”
Kate Smith, pensions director at Aegon, says: ‘Bell’s appointment is unlikely to “ring” any immediate changes to pensions. The government’s growth and pensions agenda, given that most initiatives have the imprint of the Treasury where Reynolds now resides.
‘Bell will have his hands full due to the extremely busy and ambitious pensions agenda, including ‘Unlocking the UK Pensions Market for Growth’, which ends tomorrow, and the Pension Schemes Bill due in the summer.
“We would appreciate clarification on when the Government will return to the ‘fitness’ phase of its pensions review.”
Lisa Picardo, UK business director at PensionBee, says: ‘We welcome the new Pensions Minister to his role. With her extensive public policy experience, we look forward to seeing her innovative approaches that put savers first and bring much-needed progress to the pensions industry.
‘We look forward to seeing whether Torsten Bell, with experience campaigning for high standards of living for pensioners, can revive the necessary discussions on increasing automatic contributions to registration pensions.
“We also hope to see a long-awaited resolution to the unnecessary transfer delays caused by the 2021 transfer regulations.”