Alex Burghart has been confirmed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth, a new role in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Burghart has held the role for three weeks, but was only confirmed in the role today (12 October) at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Annual Conference 2022, where he also outlined his top priorities.

He was elected as the Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar in June 2017, and previously served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 16 September 2021 to 6 July 2022.

He also served as a member of the Work and Pensions Committee from 11 September 2017 to 11 February 2019, and as a member of the Human Rights Joint Committee from 18 December 2017 to 25 February 2019.

The UK’s longest serving Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, previously confirmed that he was “no longer a minister” following Truss’s ministerial reshuffle, with the industry highlighting his departure as the end of “a period of stability”.

The change in the Minister’s title also follows the news that the government plans to "accelerate" reforms to the pensions charge in an effort to "unlock" pension investments into UK assets and high-growth businesses

This is not the only recent change at the DWP, as Chloe Smith was also named as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions earlier this month, taking over from Thérèse Coffey, who was appointed Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.

In addition to this, Claire Coutinho, has been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Coutinho was elected as the Conservative MP for East Surrey in December 2019 and has been a member of a number of Parliamentary committees, including the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill Committee, Local Government (Disqualification) Bill Committee, and National Insurance Contributions Bill Committee.

The pensions industry has warned that the incoming Pensions Minister will have “a lot on their plate”, including issues around pension dashboards and auto-enrolment reforms, particularly in light of rising inflation concerns, urging the incoming minister to “get up to speed quickly”.

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