Trade colleagues, family and friends are mourning the dying of client champion Caroline Rookes, chair of The Pensions Ombudsman.
She handed away on Monday 16 October.
Ms Rookes had been chair of The Pensions Ombudsman since November 2020, following her appointment as interim chair in September 2019.
Throughout her time at The Pensions Ombudsman, she supplied strategic governance by the worldwide pandemic and subsequent price of residing disaster.
She oversaw a interval of serious transformation together with delivering a brand new buyer pathway, onboarding 4 new NEDs who joined in Could 2021 and launching the pilot Pensions Dishonesty Unit.
Pensions Ombudsman Dominic Harris mentioned: “Caroline was a shining instance of ‘public service’, with a want to make the world a greater place, notably the world of pensions. As chair, she discovered the right stability between being supportive and difficult – and, specifically, she made certain that our selections have been at all times taken with the very best pursuits of the general public and our different customers on the forefront of our thoughts. She will probably be drastically missed.”
She was previously the CEO of steerage physique the Cash Recommendation Service, between 2013 and 2017. Previous to this she was director of personal pensions on the Division for Work and Pensions the place she led the programme to introduce computerized enrolment and the NEST pension scheme.
She was additionally a trustee of the Civil Service Sports activities Council Superannuation scheme, the NEST pension scheme and the Pension Superfund.
In the course of the 2017/18 pension restructuring train, Ms Rookes led an unbiased evaluation of communications and assist supplied to British Metal Pension Scheme members. Her report closely criticised regulators, together with the FCA and TPR for failing to make sure steelworkers had entry to up-to-date and neutral data earlier than making vital selections over their pensions.
From 2002 to 2005, she was the director of financial savings pensions and share schemes at HMRC, the place she led a reform of the pension tax regime.
She was awarded a CBE in 2010 in recognition of her profitable civil service profession and in 2014 she was awarded an Alumni Award by Lancaster College for excellent achievement.
