Guy Opperman MP, the longest-serving pensions minister, has left his role following a government reshuffle.
In an official statement posted on Twitter, Opperman said: “It has been the honour of my life to serve as a government minister for the last seven years. I was relieved of my duties on the day Her Majesty the Queen passed away. As a result I have respected the period of mourning until after Her Majesty’s funeral.
“It is now right to write and thank Parliamentary, Civil Servant and multiple other colleagues for their support while I have been the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion for the last 5 years.”
He added: “There are a plethora of policy officials, arms length bodies and parliamentarians too numerous to thank, but you all know who you are. I am grateful for your efforts in progressing so much new policy, including 5 Acts of Parliament taken through both House of Parliament in the last two years alone. No minister has done more bills these last 2 years. And no minister can function without a supportive Private Office.”
Opperman also cited some of his career highlights, such as pushing the Pensions Schemes Act through parliament and increasing automatic enrolment worker pensions to 8 per cent savings annually.
He resigned in July before the resignation of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson but was reinstated the next day.
In his resignation letter to Johnson, Opperman said: “Sadly, recent events have shown clearly that Government simply cannot function with you in charge. In good faith, and with regret, for the good of the country, I must ask you to stand down. No one individual, however successful in the past, is bigger than the party, or this great country.”
Opperman held his position for more than five years—the longest tenure since the position was established in 1998.
Steve Webb, who served as the pensions minister for almost five years before being replaced by Opperman, was appointed in 2010 as a member of the coalition administration. In the 2015 election, Webb, a former MP for the liberal democrats and current partner at LCP, lost his seat.
The pensions industry has reacted to the news of Opperman leaving his post.
Webb says: “After years of a revolving door for pensions ministers, it has been good to have a period of stability under Guy Opperman. And he has made progress in some key areas, laying the groundwork for CDC schemes to be introduced in the UK, moving us five years nearer to pensions dashboards and getting pension schemes to focus more on how their funds are invested from an ESG perspective.
“But regrettably there has been no progress in the last five years on the key area on boosting DC savings rates, with the 2017 review still gathering dust. There are also serious questions about whether the new DB funding regime is fit for purpose. The new minister will have much work to do to get these key areas moving again.”
Pensions Management Institute director of policy and external affairs Tim Middleton says: “Guy Opperman has been longest-serving Pensions Minister since the post was created. As Minister, he has overseen a number of important regulatory reforms, but his greatest legacy will surely be the Pensions Dashboard. Whilst we have not always agreed with all of his ideas, we have never doubted his energy, determination and enthusiasm for the role and his clear desire to improve pension provision within the United Career. We would like to offer him our very best wishes for the future.”
Broadstone technical director David Brooks says: “Looking back over the pensions career of Guy Opperman will mostly be a frustrating experience. His tenure was compromised by Parliamentary time being hoovered up by Brexit and Covid related issues.
“A case in point is the Pensions Act 2021 which began life as Pensions Bill 2019. While it eventually progressed covering primarily Pensions Dashboards, CDC and the new funding and notifiable events regime for DB schemes – the latter two are still not in force, the pensions dashboard activation is at least 3 years away and CDC is slowly but surely coming to fruition for one scheme.
“Guy had some big issues to get moving to change the UK pensions landscape and his frustration came out towards the end with the glacial progress of a leviathan like industry. ESG, ongoing digitisation and rise in professionalisation will be some of the big ticket items for his successor to take forward.”
Aegon head of pensions Kate Smith says: “Guy Opperman was the UK’s longest serving Pensions Minister, serving in the role for just over five years. He bought a period of stability which meant he was able to get his teeth into a number of initiatives, some more successful than others. Many of these are still in flow, such as the pensions dashboards, scheme consolidation and value for money, and initiatives to improve pension engagement.
“His biggest success was probably the Pension Schemes Act 2021 which introduced new duties for those running pension schemes as well as pushing forward pensions dashboards. The impact of this has the potential to transform pensions for the benefit of members.
“Opperman bought a period of stability to the Pensions Minister role, we hope this will continue. His tenure has clearly demonstrated that he had a lot of ideas, but it takes time to deliver them, from consultation, to legislation to implementation. Fewer and more focused initiatives may have meant increased impact.
“We hope there will be a smooth transition to the new Pension Minister, who will need to get up to speed quickly. Pensions can be a challenging topic, with many different angles. One of the benefits of Opperman’s long tenure is that he was able to build up a wealth of expertise and clearly demonstrated his passion for improving pensions.
“The new Pensions Minister will have a lot on their plate with many issues vying for attention. Pension policy has been a hive of activity in recent years, and there’s still much unfinished business, but a new Minister will bring fresh thinking. Whoever gets the role, getting pensions dashboards over the line must be the top priority, nothing should be allowed to disrupt this.”
AJ Bell head of retirement policy Tom Selby says: “Guy Opperman has been a relatively rare phenomenon in modern political times – a pensions minister given sufficient time in the job to genuinely engage with retirement issues.
“He leaves office having pushed forward a huge legislative agenda, including shepherding automatic enrolment, laying the groundwork for pensions dashboards and driving improved climate disclosure in workplace pensions.
“While there will always be points of agreement and disagreement between industry and the relevant minister, Opperman was passionate, challenging and relentlessly focused on improving outcomes for savers. You can’t ask for much more than that.
“His successor will have a tough act to follow and enters the job at one of the most challenging times in recent history. Auto-enrolment faces arguably its biggest challenge, with rising prices squeezing household incomes and forcing millions to re-evaluate their finances – including their capacity to save for the long-term.
“Ensuring opt-outs are kept to a minimum will almost certainly be the main immediate priority for the next pensions minister. Over the medium-term the question of how to increase minimum contributions, without undermining participation, will need to be addressed.
“In his exit letter, Opperman also noted a desire to expand auto-enrolment to include a ‘rainy day’ element to boost financial resilience among workers – something which was brutally exposed by Covid and remains a huge challenge during the cost-of-living crisis.”
He adds: “Away from auto-enrolment and the existing reform agenda, Baroness Neville-Rolfe has confirmed she has now submitted her independent report into state pension age increases. This will be a huge focus for DWP and the new pensions minister in 2023.
“The report will help inform the Government’s decision as to whether future state pension age rises should go ahead as planned, taking into account various factors including life expectancy, socio-economic issues and the future affordability and sustainability of the state pension.
“The UK state pension age is 66, with an increase to 67 planned for 2028, and 68 by 2046. Way back in 2017 the Government said it would accelerate the rise to 68 by seven years to 2039, but this was never written into legislation.
“Recent data suggests life expectancy improvements have stalled, which should reduce the projected costs of paying state pensions to retirees. What that means for the state pension age will be a decision for Government and, inevitably, one that will be influenced by politics as much as economics.
“It would certainly be a brave move to enter a general election on a pledge to hike the state pension age further or faster than previously announced.”