The new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed Mel Stride as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Stride takes over from Chloe Smith, who was appointed by outgoing PM Liz Truss.
Stride has been Conservative MP for Central Devon since 2010 and was previously Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 23 May 2019 to 24 July 2019, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General from June 2017 to May 2019.
The Secretary of State has overall responsibility for the business of the department, including the departmental strategy, planning and performance, reporting and governance requirements. They have direct responsibility for departmental expenditure.
Commenting on the appointment, Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter: said: “As incoming new Secretary of State for the DWP, Mel Stride, must understand that building a pension takes decades and creating successful pension policy also takes a long time and there needs to be stability at the helm of the DWP for the next few years particularly while people are under significant cost strain. Whether Stride in this new role decides to also shift Alex Burghart from his recent new role as the minister for pensions and growth is yet to be seen.”
Instability caused by an “endless carousel” of incumbents in this role continues to cause significant concern for pensioners, Greer added.
“Pensions by their very nature are long-term and complicated and Stride needs to take this role on for the long term and not use it has a springboard into another role so that any changes in policy are carefully planned and crucially don’t create unintended consequences.
“There still needs to be a lot of change within pensions but this will require cross-departmental collaboration between Stride and Hunt, the recently confirmed new chancellor.
“Progress in relation to pensions has been hampered by the political backdrop such as Brexit, Tory infighting and the pandemic. With the cost-of-living crisis rearing its ugly head we still have to wait for meaningful change for some time yet. An example of this is Automatic Enrolment, where progress has been hindered in part by the Treasury, which often kicked the can down the road or stifled evolution due to cost.”
