Wednesday 24 July heralded a new era for British politics with Boris Johnson taking the reigns as Britain’s latest Prime Minister. His first job, to appoint his Cabinet colleagues saw the biggest ministerial shake up in living history.

In September last year, the 12-month rate for CPI inflation reached 3% for the first time since April 2012. Pensioners will therefore see their State Pension increase significantly this year.

Esther McVey, MP for Tatton in Cheshire becomes the fifth Work and Pensions Secretary to be appointed in less than three years. Esther replaces David Gauke, who after only a short term in office, now moves to the Justice Department.

On 19 July 2017, the Government accepted the recommendation made by John Cridland (ex-Confederation of British Industry boss) in his report to bring forward the rise in the State Pension Age (SPA) for men and women to age 68.

The Scottish Government has confirmed formally that all income tax rates and thresholds will remain at the 2016/17 levels for the 2017/18 tax year. Consequently, top rate taxpayers in Scotland will pay more than their British counterparts south of the border.

The Chancellor in his recent budget on 9 March 2017, announced that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will introduce a 25% tax charge on Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) transfers for members not in the European Economic Area (EEA), unless certain conditions apply.

Following the recent announcement by the Government to call a snap general election in June, the Government has proposed a number of changes in order to expedite the passing of the Finance (No 2) Bill, before Parliament is dissolved on 3 May 2017.

The State Pension Age (SPA) is the earliest age an individual can elect to claim their State Pension. Under current plans the SPA is due to rise to age 68 by 2046.

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb (now director of policy at Royal London) has called upon the Pensions Regulator (tPR) to consider whether the transfer process can be simplified and whether schemes should be required to provide all relevant information when a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is first requested.