Thatcher Pensions Reforms witness seminar

You are invited to take part in an exciting and thought-provoking witness seminar on the Fowler Inquiry into Provision for Retirement and the 1986 Personal Pensions Revolution, organised by Bristol University.

The election of a Conservative government on 4 May 1979 under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher marked a significant moment in the politics of post-war Britain generally, and also for its pension system. The subsequent decade witnessed a radical overhaul of the economic and social policies that had characterised the decades since the late-1940s. Amongst their many reforms, one of the Thatcher governments’ most radical achievements was the reform of Britain’s pension system, most notably through the ‘personal pensions revolution’.

The seminar will examine the genesis and deliberations of the ‘Inquiry into Provision for Retirement’, established by Norman Fowler in November of 1983. It will also assess its important role in shaping the pension reforms contained in the Social Security and Financial Services acts of 1986.

The Inquiry is a fascinating case study in the mediation of powerful political, financial and civil society interests as the government sought radically to reshape the entire British pension system. Key elements of that agenda were thwarted, though the ‘personal pension’ revolution of 1986 still served to reshape the landscape of British pensions for decades to come.

The panel discussion will include Sir Nicholas Montagu (the Inquiry’s secretary), Chris Daykin (former Government Actuary and former President of the Institute of Actuaries), and Marshall Field (former President of the Institute of Actuaries). Gregg McClymont (Head of Retirement Savings at Aberdeen Asset Management and former Shadow Pensions Minister).