STEVE WEBB: I’ve written 400 pension columns – here is the within story

When I first met the now editor of This is Money back in 2016 and offered to answer readers’ questions on pensions, little did I realise that I would still be going eight years later…

As we reach my 400th weekly column, we thought it might be interesting for readers to have a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of how they are put together and to offer some tips on how to get your question answered.

Every week, many dozens of readers from the UK and around the world get in touch with This is Money via the pensionquestions email address.

Questions cover the whole range of topics from state pensions and benefits, company and private pensions, the rules around pension tax relief, financial advice, pension transfers and much more besides.

The team at This is Money go through all of the questions and remove all personal details so that when they are sent on to me I have no idea who has asked the question.

I read through all the questions that come in and this gives me a great insight into what is on the mind of the public when it comes to pensions.

Sometimes, This is Money readers have acted as a ‘canary’ in the mine, drawing our attention to emerging problems which no one else has spotted.

The classic example of this was a reader who contacted us in early 2020 about his wife’s very low state pension.

That column triggered dozens more questions and, after more columns and much campaigning, the Government ended up spending four years fixing the state pensions of over 100,000 people and paying out arrears of approaching £1billion.

When it comes to choosing my topic for the next column I try to vary those I cover.

Some weeks it will be the (very welcome) problem of how to manage a pension pot which exceeds the lifetime limits for pension tax relief whereas others it will be about the details of the pensioner benefits system for those on the lowest incomes.

Although it would be nice to think that as a former Pensions Minister and partner at a firm of pensions consultants I would be able to answer any question that was thrown at me, this is far from the truth.

Sometimes I look at a question and think ‘that looks interesting, I wonder what the answer is?’

Fortunately, I’m able to tap in to the expertise of my colleagues at LCP, former colleagues at Royal London, other experts from across the pensions world, and occasionally specialist lawyers.

I’m grateful to all of them for sharing their time and knowledge.

In terms of things which make a question stand out for a potential column, this would include:

– Something new or topical which I haven’t written about before or which is causing confusion;

– A question which includes the key information but not so long that we have to cut chunks out to make it digestible for readers, though naturally there are exceptions when there is great value in learning about then publicising a larger story;

– An issue which may be of relevance or interest to large numbers of our readers; I do, of course, sometimes answer ‘niche’ questions likely to only affect a few people, but most of the time I’m looking for things that will benefit others beyond the individual reader who has written in.

Once I’ve drafted my reply I usually sleep on it and then review it the next day to make sure that it is clear and accurate.

It then goes off to This is Money’s pensions editor who casts her expert eye over it, asks questions of clarification and suggests improvements.

Finally it goes off to the editorial team at This is Money for a further look and publication the following Monday.

If you submit a question and it’s not answered the next Monday it doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be picked up.

Sometimes I need a bit more time to research a topic or get a response from the Government, so it’s worth keeping an eye out in following weeks as well.

This is Money sends a link to readers who get a question answered to ensure they don’t miss my response.

I only wish I could reply personally to everyone who writes in but unfortunately this isn’t possible.

I’ve learned a huge amount through writing my column each week, and it can be especially rewarding when we are able to help an individual reader resolve a longstanding problem.

It’s also very satisfying when This is Money readers help us to spot something which the Government had been brushing under the carpet.

The column would be nothing without you, our readers, so please keep the questions coming.