Pensions minister Torsten Bell has been given a leading role in advising chancellor Rachel Reeves on the next Budget, according to reports today.
The New Statesman and The Times have reported that Reeves has given Bell responsibility for economic policy, alongside his pensions remit.
This appointment is designed to help boost the chancellor’s work on the next Budget, expected to be delivered in late October or early November.
Bell was appointed pensions minister in January after Emma Reynolds became economic secretary to the Treasury.
In his short tenure as pensions minister, Bell has helped drive through reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which will see two of the eight asset pools merged away. He has played a key role in the government’s pension reform work and is currently responsible for leading the Pension Schemes Bill through parliament.
The former Resolution Foundation chief executive is highly regarded within Labour, having previously worked as an adviser to former Labour chancellor Alastair Darling. He was also director of policy for the party’s former leader Ed Miliband, and his brother Olaf is a policy adviser to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Bell was elected as the MP for Swansea West at last year’s general election.
