DWP announces recruitment

Pensions Ombudsman Tony King will stand down from his post in late spring 2015. Jane Irvine’s second term as Deputy Ombudsman ends next autumn.

Tony King said:

I have hugely enjoyed my time in almost 8 years as Pensions Ombudsman. Since I joined we have made a great deal of progress in becoming more informal, flexible and efficient.

In the next few months we will be introducing further important developments, making us more accessible and emphasising our service users’ needs and expectations. I have decided that when those are established it will be a good time to step down so that the office can continue to develop under new leadership and I can pursue other interests.

Minister for Pensions, Steve Webb said:

I am grateful to Tony for the impact he has made on performance since he took up office back in 2007. He has successfully led the office through a period of change as it modernised its working methods and IT systems.

I also want to thank Jane for the hard work she has put into the Deputy Ombudsman role, and in particular for her flexibility towards her workload which greatly helped the office deliver on its targets. I wish both of them well for the future.

A joint recruitment exercise was announced by the Department for Work and Pensions today.

Both Tony and Jane will be flexible about their departure dates to ensure a smooth transition when the new Pensions Ombudsman and Deputy Pensions Ombudsman take up their posts.