New Pensions Minister Paul Maynard urged to tackle huge in-tray of issues

Paul Maynard is the new Pensions Secretary, replacing Laura Trott who spent a year in the role before being promoted to principal secretary at the Treasury earlier this week.

The MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys previously held positions at the Department for Transport, the Ministry of Justice and the Whips Office between 2016 and 2020.

Nine years ago he was also a member of the Work and Pensions Committee for six months.

Maynard, who was first elected in 2010, won a majority of about 8,600 in the 2019 election.

Pensions industry commentators, who expressed disappointment at the lack of a pensions law in the recent King’s Speech, nonetheless suggest that Maynard will have plenty on his plate before the election, which takes place no later than January 2025.

Readers of This is Money, who continue to send in complaints about long delays in processing state pension top-ups, will be hoping he can overcome the issue.

Meanwhile, the Treasury is pushing for a major initiative to get pension funds to invest their members’ savings to boost British growth.

“The new Pensions Minister will have a lot on his agenda,” says Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon. Given his lack of experience in financial services, this could be a challenge.”

Smith says a busy agenda includes implementing auto-enrollment reforms, encouraging pension plan consolidation and encouraging private equity investment programs to boost economic growth.

‘The previous Pensions Minister, Laura Trott, could prove invaluable here in her new role at the Treasury.

“Time will tell whether Maynard will have the time to get up to speed on all things retirement and manage any initiatives as the general election will be a major distraction.”

Becky O’Connor, public affairs director at PensionBee, said: ‘The pension baton has been passed from Laura Trott to Paul Maynard for several key initiatives that require immediate attention.

‘Uncertainty remains over the triple lock of state pensions, the implementation of the Mansion House reforms, the extension of auto-enrolment, the provision of pension dashboards and the regulation of pension transfers.’

Nigel Peaple, chief executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said: ‘We look forward to discussing with him our Five Steps to Better Pensions, in particular the need to set clear targets for adequate, fair and affordable pensions, with the value of the state pension, and increasing automatic enrollment contributions to 12 percent over the next ten years.

‘Given the upcoming autumn statement, we will also set out our views on the support the government should provide to pension funds to attract investment in UK growth.’