TPR board member becomes interim chair
Image: TPR
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The Department for Work and Pensions has made Kirstin Baker the interim chair of the Pensions Regulator, taking over from Sarah Smart on 1 August, who has had the role for four years. Baker’s appointment is for up to nine months. Elsewhere, the job advert for the permanent chair is available online.
Baker is a current senior independent member of TPR’s board and has been a panel inquiry chair of the Competition and Markets Authority since September 2018, having also sat on its board as a non-executive until 2024.
A civil servant by background, she worked at the Treasury, most recently as finance and commercial director from 2013 to 2016. Before that, she helped lead the Treasury’s response to the global financial crisis, for which she received a CBE.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell welcomed Baker as interim chair, saying: “I look forward to working with her as she brings to bear the wealth of experience from her role as TPR senior independent board member.”
Baker is a current senior independent member of TPR’s board and has been a panel inquiry chair of the Competition and Markets Authority since September 2018, having also sat on its board as a non-executive until 2024.
A civil servant by background, she worked at the Treasury, most recently as finance and commercial director from 2013 to 2016. Before that, she helped lead the Treasury’s response to the global financial crisis, for which she received a CBE.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell welcomed Baker as interim chair, saying: “I look forward to working with her as she brings to bear the wealth of experience from her role as TPR senior independent board member.”
About any new permanent chair, Bell said that as the pensions market transforms, TPR “will also need to evolve to ensure it is stewarding the market towards our priorities of economic growth while continuing to ensure the best possible retirement outcomes”.
TPR’s new permanent chairperson will need to help steer the regulator through reorganisation as it focuses more on market dynamics amid a shift to profit-driven models in the sector, as well as getting a grip on systemic issues following the liability-driven investment crisis of 2022.
The regulator will also have its hands full as a series of new requirements are set to come in for which TPR will need to provide guidance and support. They range from default pension benefits to the new value for money framework, multi-employer collective defined contribution schemes to defined benefit surplus release, as well as minimum size requirements for multi-employer defined contribution defaults. The defined benefit consolidator framework could also change as new legislation is being introduced to override the interim regime devised by TPR.
As these tectonic changes are set in motion, TPR plans to tighten requirements around trusteeship. The Department for Work and Pensions will consult on this later in the year.
The deadline for applications as permanent chair is at 5pm on 14 July, and interviews are expected to end on 12 September. The role attracts annual remuneration of £92,300 for a time commitment of 20 hours per week.
The interim chair is entitled to annual pay of £73,840 based on a minimum time commitment of 104 days a year.
What qualities and experience would you want the next TPR chair to have?
What qualities and experience would you want the next TPR chair to have?
