Former pensions minister Paul Maynard laments how hard it is to stand out from the crowd when trying to gain traction with members of parliament, and gives some advice to those trying to influence the political agenda.
They come thick and fast, these pension reports. Almost as fast as the Bishop’s Move removals team turns up at Downing Street and the other grace-and-favour residences to remove the personal effects of the previous occupants, or the staged walks up Downing Street of wannabe ministers. And these reports leave no more impression than the departing occupant or minister does, either.
Why is this? Often the ambition of the report’s authors and sponsors is well meant but over-vaulting. There is a desire to be seen to be the ‘thought leaders’ of the sector – which results in competitive inflation, not least in the glossiness of the tome. The authors seek to be all-encompassing to deflect any ‘what-about-ery’ criticism. But the reports’ deep and abiding flaw is that they are not a practical guide for any minister.
Why auto-enrolment is stuck
Consider the arguments over auto-enrolment, which everyone pontificates about the need to expand in some way. Everyone agrees it has been a ‘good thing’. Some – and as minister I was one of those – regard it as only a partial success, a half-formed thing. It was meant to be an escalator towards adequacy – yet government pushed the pause button some time ago on that journey.
Great effort went into passing a private member’s bill to lower the starting age for auto-enrolment, and begin contributions from the first pound, by the last government. Wholly uncontroversial, if barely shifting the dial on adequacy, and welcomed across the sector. It was seen as a political downpayment on future increases to contribution levels.
Yet despite legislation being passed, it has never been ‘commenced’, so has never been implemented, by either the governments (plural) I served in or those that came after. ‘Cost of living’ concerns seemed to be the stymying factor.
“A constant focus on the ‘cost of living’ means it has become the lens through which every policy proposal must pass – so even if a policy is good for people in the long term, if it costs even a little bit more in the short term, it does not pass ‘go’.”
Paul Maynard
I was often asked at industry events when it would happen. I had no good answer other than to make some sort of joke about what the phrase ‘in due course’ really means in a civil servant context.
It still hasn’t happened. A constant focus on the ‘cost of living’ means it has become the lens through which every policy proposal must pass – so even if a policy is good for people in the long term (and leads to less public spending), if it costs even a little bit more in the short term, it does not pass ‘go’.
Does the minor change this legislation represented really need to await the outcome of a Pensions Commission shortly entering its third year?
I argued for a Pensions Commission – not quite as compliant, perhaps, as I fear this one will be to government wishes – as a fig leaf to allow ministers to take decisions perceived as hard.
(Whether deciding on the future of the triple lock is truly ‘hard’ given the ambition of previous governments’ strategies 10 to 20 years ago is a worthwhile debating point – but avoids political reality.)
In truth, doing things in government is ever harder, especially when it is something the general public is likely to notice. Only last week, I saw the government issuing a tentative consultation on (largely uncontentious) proposals to reform the law on marriage that I initiated as a Justice Minister back in 2019 – and few other than those planning nuptials will notice.
How to catch a minister’s eye
So can these pension reports play a role in policy-making? They can, and do, play a role in forging a consensus across the industry – though that risks becoming soggy quicksand if everyone is in ‘violent agreement’.
It can help raise a broader perspective that sits outside government’s departmental silos. Think of the tentative steps towards siting the issue of pension adequacy within the financial journey of asset accrual across a lifetime, or perhaps posing difficult questions about how to persuade people to contribute more to their pensions when 40% have fewer than £1,000 in savings.
As a minister, I would often request sight of these pension industry reports for my weekend box(es). There would be two boxes – one with business as usual, one with ‘stuff to read’ since it was only weekends when I might get the time and space to reflect on the wider themes in pensions. I would return on a Monday with the report covered in spidery graffiti, and a multitude of questions for my long-suffering officials. I might even be sufficiently excited to want to get the authors in – not least as I wanted senior officials to hear and contribute to a discussion on the topic.
But go back – note I had to request a copy. I would only know such a report existed because I had spotted it in The Times, or a letter happened to land in my constituency postbag (which I monitored) rather than my departmental postbag (which remained deep in the bowels of the department). That is a whole different article for another time.
You may think ministers get to see or hear the outcome of your work. You may think they see the letters you write. But getting a slice of ministerial attention is more difficult than you realise.
The thicker, glossier, more frequent, more repetitive a report is, the less impact. Say something fresh or new, that talks about what the minister thinks aloud about, and then you are getting close to truly influencing the agenda.
Paul Maynard was the minister for pensions from October 2023 to July 2024, and served as the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys for more than 14 years.
Paul Maynard is also a panellist at the forthcoming Pensions Expert DC & Master Trust Summit on 22 September, where he will join First Bus’s Monty Hadadi and Vidett’s Alison Hatcher to discuss whether the pensions industry is delivering what members really need. You can view the full agenda here and register to attend here.
