Torsten Bell is Pensions Minister after Reynolds will get shunted to Treasury job

Former Resolution think-tank chief Torsten Bell is the new Pensions Minister after his predecessor was appointed City Minister following a six-month stint in the post.

The abrupt job change for Emma Reynolds follows the resignation of Tulip Siddiq from the Treasury over links to her aunt’s former government in Bangladesh.

Torsten Bell became a new Labour 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 living standards for people on low-to-middle incomes.

The MP for Swansea West is also author of ‘Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back’. 

Torsten Bell MP: Former boss of the Resolution Foundation and author of ‘Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back’

Before joining Resolution, he worked at the Treasury, as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, and as director of policy for the Labour Party.

At the Department for Work and Pensions, he will take over a major review of pensions that was being carried out by Reynolds.

This will look to promote the Government’s plan to use people’s retirement savings to help boost economic growth, but there are fears it will also take on the challenge of reforming pension tax relief.

A raid on better off pension savers could raise billions of pounds for other Government spending priorities, but would prompt an outcry from those who lost out on generous savings incentives, and require a major overhaul of pension administration.

The DWP is also gearing up for another big rush to buy state pension top-ups this spring ahead of a new crunch deadline, which ended up being delayed twice amid chaos two years ago.

This is Money readers have long complained of administration and customer service problems at the DWP. 

A string of state pension underpayment scandals have been exposed by This is Money and our retirement columnist, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

Other matters Bell will have to tackle include the long delayed pension dashboard, the timing of a state pension age rise to 68, and industry lobbying efforts for an expansion to auto enrolment that were frustrated under Reynolds.

Sophia Singleton, president of the Society of Pension Professionals, says: ‘This is a particularly important time for pensions policy with various consultations in train, dashboards, value for money and other projects mid-progress and a much-needed pensions adequacy review having appeared to have stalled under the previous Minister.

‘We therefore look forward to working with the new Minister to drive forward these important initiatives and implement the most effective, evidence-based pensions policy possible.’

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, says: ‘Bell’s appointment is unlikely to “ring” in any immediate pension changes to the Government’s pension and growth agenda given most initiatives bear the Treasury footprint 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 closes tomorrow and the Pension Schemes Bill scheduled for the summer.

‘We would welcome clarity on when the Government will return to the “adequacy” phase of its pensions review.’

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at PensionBee, says: ‘We welcome the new Pensions Minister to his role. With his extensive experience in public policy, we’re keen to see his innovative approaches that prioritise savers and bring much-needed progress to the pensions industry.

‘We are looking forward to seeing whether Torsten Bell – with a background of campaigning for high retirement living standards – can revive the necessary discussions about increasing automatic enrolment pension contributions.

‘We are also hoping to see a long-overdue resolution to unnecessary transfer delays caused by the 2021 transfer regulations.’