Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, has dismissed recent speculation surrounding possible pensions measures in the upcoming Autumn Budget as “nonsense,” urging the industry to focus instead on the government’s track record.

Commenting on the recent Budget rumours at the Social Market Foundation (SMF) inaugural Pensions Conference, Bell warned that "there's a lot of nonsense out there", placing the blame for this speculation, and the subsequent action taken by savers, with journalists.

"I hope every newspaper has kind of indemnified against claims about bad pensions advice that they may or may not have been providing in um recent weeks," he stated.

Rather than fuelling rumours ahead of fiscal events, Bell said that the sector should “judge the government on what it has done."

Bell also pushed back on suggestions that he had taken on a new role in the run-up to the Budget, clarifying that while he is providing input, this is nothing new, as he also provided advice on a number of previous Budgets, including those delivered by Conservative Chancellors.

He joked that “some people have got very excited about the idea that a Treasury Minister might occasionally talk to other bits of the Treasury", but emphasised that "basically everyone should calm down".

Whilst the Minister refused to be drawn in on Budget speculation, he confirmed that the state pension triple lock is still set to stay for the rest of parliament, in line with Labour’s election manifesto commitments.

"The triple lock is staying throughout this parliament," he stated, emphasising that the state pension is a "very, very material part of retirement income, forming the 'bedrock' of retirement income for many.

"Because it's being done in the way it is, which is avoiding means testing, it's also providing the clear incentive structure to then save on top, which is particularly relevant for middle and higher income households," he stated. "That is why it's in the manifesto and that's exactly what we're going to do."

The minister also emphasised the importance of the triple lock when asked about the concerns facing Gen X savers, emphasising that this will provide a baseline for Gen X to rely on.

"That's also why we're legislating to make sure we start pushing up higher returns in the system," he added, arguing that whilst he understood frustration around the timeline for broader changes, such as the 2017 auto-enrolment reforms, he disagreed that they were taking "forever".

"We do need to think about it in the round," he explained. "I do want to think about the system as a whole. I think that is what we're doing."

He also argued that whilst the pensions industry has views about some bits that are easy to fix, there are "big challenges" with the system that mean changes are not always as straightforward as this, highlighting the self-employed as a key example.

Despite concerns over the potential trade-offs given his role as a joint Treasury and DWP Minister, Bell argued that "there are big synergies", with both departments concerned with UK growth.

In particular, Bell said that the new Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden sees pensions reform as central to the growth agenda.

"He is very clear he is doing the work and pensions job as part of the government's economic mission. It's not like someone else worrying about this growth stuff, it's his job to be worrying about that," Bell said.

More broadly, the Minister also stressed the role of the pensions industry in the push for growth, arguing that "we forgot after the 1990s just how important a pension system is as part of the kind of pipe work of British capitalism".

"One of the advantages of bigger, better pension schemes is they're in a much better place to invest in a wider range of assets, including directly and including having more ownership, direct ownership of those assets rather than just having stuff in trackers.

That kind of ownership is important... and that's one of the things that's been forgotten from the right-wing side of political thinking.

"You want ownership and you want active engaged ownership because that's what leads managers to get to better outcomes to invest for the future."

---