Huw Irranca-Davies

Labour Party | Ogmore

PENSIONS- TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

If there is one issue guaranteed to feature regularly in our mailbags then it is pensions. We all want a comfortable retirement and a pension that reflects a lifetime of hard work, but in the face of increased life expectancy the challenge of creating a fair, sustainable and affordable pension system has become one of the hottest political debates of our age.

It is clear that the current pension system is no longer meeting the needs of workers or pensioners. An estimated 12 million people are simply not saving enough for their retirement, often because under the complex present arrangement they do not know how best to plan ahead. The Conservatives’ decision to cut the link between earnings and the basic state pension and the introduction of means-testing have provided further disincentives to save. Meanwhile women and carers resent a pension system that does not recognise or reward their vital social roles.

This Government has made significant progress in lifting 2 million pensioners out of poverty but our priority now must be to push ahead with more fundamental and wide-ranging reforms. The Pensions White Paper, launched in April, outlines how we intend to achieve this.

At the heart of the new settlement will be a new low-cost savings scheme into which all workers will be enrolled and all employers will make matching contributions. This will break down barriers that people face when saving for pensions and foster a savings culture. These measures will be supported by a higher, fairer state pensions re-linked to earnings to give people a firm, simple to understand foundation upon which to begin saving.

To ensure that this settlement is sustainable the state retirement age will be raised gradually in line with life expectancy. Finally, the number of qualifying years for a full state pension will be cut to 30 and credits will be introduced to provide a fairer settlement for women and carers.

Along with reforms of public sector pensions these changes will impact upon how all of us work, live and plan for the future. Everyone wants to debate these crucial decisions and for this reason we will be continuing our popular Have Your Say series of workshops with an open forum on pensions which will be addressed by top speakers from industry, the unions and older people’s groups. We hope that you will join us on Saturday July 15th, 10:00am-12:30pm at the OCLP Social Club, Bryntirion, Bridgend, CF31 0ND.