Chloe Smith MP has been appointed secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
Smith replaces Thérèse Coffey who has been named as the new secretary of state for health and social care and the deputy PM.
For the past year, Smith was serving as the minister of state for Disabled People, Work, and Health at the DWP
From 2020 to September 2021, she served as minister for the Constitution and Devolution and also served as the Cabinet Office’s parliamentary secretary from 2018 to 2020. She was the House of Commons assistant government whip and parliamentary under secretary of state for Northern Ireland from June 2017 to January 2018.
Smith is the current MP for Norwich North since 2009.
In a Tweet, Smith said: “I’m delighted to be asked to serve by the new Prime Minister, my Norfolk colleague and friend. We have a bold plan for the serious challenges we face, and I’m excited to lead the Department for Work and Pensions as we get the UK working, building and growing.”
Coffey became secretary of state in September 2019. She has also served as minister of state and parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra). She is the currently MP for Suffolk Coastal.
Punter Southall Aspire CEO Steve Butler says: “I’d like to congratulate Chloe Smith on her appointment. The Department of Work and Pensions, as with the whole government, has a full in-tray.
“The pensions system is critical to the UK’s financial wellbeing. The cost-of-living crisis will inevitably impact the living standards of retirees and deter people from saving for the long term – we are already seeing evidence of this. It is vital that the government provides help to people during this crisis, but I also want to see the government tackle structural issues within the pensions system to improve and encourage lifetime savings in Britain.
“There are three major issues that the new Work and Pensions Secretary must address.
“Auto-enrolment rules need to be changed to help address the gender pension gap and help women save more. The system should be altered so that, for example, if a woman is on a career break to look after children, her partner can pay into her pension pot even though she’s not working. The minimum age and salary level at which you can be auto-enrolled should be lowered so that younger or part-time workers can save, which will help women too.
“The rules for accessing pensions savings and annual savings allowances must be more flexible to reflect that we’re living longer and spending more time in retirement. The Money Purchase Annual Allowance is a major blocker to true pension freedom and it should be reformed so that people aren’t penalised for accessing their long-term savings.
“The Department must build greater awareness of the Pension Tracing Service to help people locate their lost pensions. There is nearly £19bn in unclaimed pensions, so the government should be doing more to encourage people to find their misplaced savings.”
