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Sir Stephen Timms and Alison McGovern have been appointed as ministers of state in the Department for Work and Pensions. Their portfolios have not been revealed yet.
The ministerial appointments follow an announcement on Friday that Liz Kendall has become work and pensions secretary, having held the respective role in the shadow cabinet.
Sir Stephen held various roles in previous Labour governments. Most recently he chaired the Work and Pensions Committee, where he led a three-part inquiry into protecting pension savers, which concluded that government should examine the case for increasing auto-enrolment minimum contributions "before it is too late”.
A recent inquiry into defined benefit pensions led to MPs callingfor a change in the Pensions Regulator’s statutory objectives. The previous government did not respond to the inquiry before parliament was dissolved, but Sir Stephen has said he would expect that a response will be forthcoming from the new government.
The MP for East Ham also chaired an inquiry into liability-driven investments following the Bank of England intervention in the gilts market in autumn 2022, followed by a non-inquiry session on fiduciary duty. A further pensions inquiry related to the Norton Motorcycles pension fund, where an employer defrauded scheme members in 2012.
McGovern represents Birkenhead, Frank Field’s constituency until 2019, having been MP for Wirral South since 2010. She was previously Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s parliamentary private secretary.
What do you think the new minister's priority will be in pensions?
