Swansea West MP Torsten Bell, a former chief executive of the anti-poverty Resolution Foundation thinktank, has become the new Pensions Minister.

Mr Bell takes over the pensions brief following a reshuffle triggered by the departure from government yesterday of Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq.

Mr Bell takes over from incumbent Emma Reynolds MP who was appointed Pensions Minister in July last year when Labour won the general election. Ms Reynolds has been promoted to Economic Secretary at the Treasury.

Mr Bell has a background in economics and for nearly 10 years ran the Resolution Foundation, which aims to produce policies aiding lower and middle income earners.

He will continue the cross-department brief of his predecessor with the title Parliamentary Secretary in the Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions.

The appointment of Mr Bell has been welcomed by many in the pensions sector.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association said it looks forward to working with Mr Bell.

Zoe Alexander, director of policy & advocacy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association trade body, said: “We welcome Torsten Bell as the new Minister for Pensions and look forward to engaging with him on the Pensions Review in what is a critical year for pensions policy.

“Torsten is already well known and respected within the pensions industry. We are optimistic that he will bring the leadership that is needed to make progress on both phases of the Pensions Review and look forward to working with him to continue to deliver a system that is adequate, affordable and fair, in the interests of UK savers.”

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said: “We welcome Torsten Bell’s appointment as new Pensions Minister, replacing Emma Reynolds. Bell’s appointment is unlikely to ‘ring’ in any immediate pension changes to the Government’s pension and growth agenda given most initiatives bear the Treasury footprint where Reynolds now resides. Bell will have his hands full due to the extremely busy and ambitious pensions agenda, including the ‘Unlocking the UK pensions market for growth’ which closes tomorrow and the Pension Schemes Bill scheduled for the Summer.   

“Although this is a change in ministerial leadership, we expect little change in the strategic policy direction. But we would welcome clarity on when the Government will return to the ‘adequacy’ phase of its Pensions Review. This is also an opportunity to carry out a review of all the policy initiatives in flow, considering the sequencing which works best to deliver the government’s objectives without causing customer confusion or market chaos. “