Press release

New Deputy Pensions Ombudsman appointed

Karen Johnston has been appointed as Deputy Pensions Ombudsman and Deputy Pensions Protection Fund Ombudsman.

From:
Department for Work and Pensions, The Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman and The Pensions Ombudsman
Published
25 March 2015
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Karen will take up her post from July 1, 2015 for a 3-year term.

Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:

Karen Johnston will prove to be a first-rate appointment to this important role, and will bring with her a wealth of valuable experience and intrinsic knowledge of the pensions’ industry.

I would like to thank Jane Irvine, the current holder of the post, for her hard work and dedication during the course of her tenure, and for the positive impact she has made to the Pensions Ombudsman Service. I wish her well for the future.

Karen Johnston said:

I am delighted to be appointed to the role and welcome the opportunity. I look forward to working with Anthony Arter, the incoming Pensions Ombudsman, staff, stakeholders and DWP.

More information

The Pensions Ombudsman and Deputy Pensions Ombudsman are public appointments made by the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions. They follow an open competition regulated by The Office for the Commissioner of Public Appointments.

Anthony Arter will take up post as Pensions Ombudsman on 23 May 2015, as announced in February 2015.

Karen Johnston was formerly strategy lawyer at The Pensions Regulator where she also worked on the automatic enrolment programme. Prior to that she was a senior consumer lawyer at the Office of Fair Trading and a barrister at the Independent Bar. She is also a Trustee for the Brighton and Hove Citizens Advice Bureau.

Jane Irvine, the current Deputy Pensions Ombudsman, will stand down from May 31, 2015. She was appointed as Deputy Pensions Ombudsman from November 18, 2009.

The Pensions Ombudsman Service is an independent organisation set up by law to investigate complaints about pension administration. It is a tribunal non-departmental public body of the Department for Work and Pensions.

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Updates to this page

Published 25 March 2015

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