Harry Cohen
THE PENSION CREDIT BILL
The Pension Credit Bill has just received its third reading in the House of Commons. That may not sound exciting but the measures that are being introduced will reward both today and tomorrow’s pensioners when the Credit is introduced next year.
Over 5 million pensioners will be eligible and on average they stand to gain £400 per year. No one aged 60 or over need live on less than £100 per week (£154 for a couple). Most importantly it will ensure that pensioners with small occupational pensions or modest savings will no longer face losing a pound in their benefit for every pound of pension or other savings they have built up.
Thrift will be rewarded and not penalised as has been the case. From aged 65 people with incomes up to around £135 a week (£200 for couples) will be able to get a top-up payment up to a maximum of £13.80 per week (£18.60 for couples). Weekly means testing will be abolished with the awards set for 5 years. Only significant changes in circumstances need to be reported which effectively means that increases in income during this fixed period will be ignored. Pensioners with over 12,000 will no longer be excluded from receiving help and saving below £6,000 will be completely disregarded. Those receiving Housing benefit and Council Tax Benefit will be fully protected so that they maintain their current entitlement as well as benefiting from the more generous income and savings rule.
Finally, it will enable pensioners with special needs and receiving extra payments also to benefit from saving. That would include; those who have increments to their basic state pension for having deferred retirement and those with a War Pension; those in Residential Care and Nursing Homes and; those aged 65 with additions such as the severe disability premium.
The Credit will make a real difference. Around half of all pensioner households will stand to gain with two thirds of these people being women
It is vitally important, however, that pensioners know about and claim the Pensioner Credit. It will be introduced in October 2003 but advanced claims will be accepted from April. Claims will also be backdated where appropriate if received prior to October 2004. For further information and a fact sheet people can contact me at Gilbert Wakefield House, 67 Bewsey Street, telephone 01925 232 480, or e-mail at jonesh@parliament.uk
The new Pension Service will co-ordinate delivery of the Pensions Credit. The Service is designed to meet pensioners’ needs and needs of individual communities. Telephone contact remains the most popular form of contact for pensioners and this will continue as it does at present for Retirement Pensions & Minimum Income Guarantee teleclaims, Pensions Direct and the Winter Fuels Helpline. Indeed the system is to be improved and modernised making it easier to make contact and achieve quicker response times. It is hoped that eventually 80% of calls will be dealt with at the first point of contact thus eliminating the annoying, time consuming and confusing practice of shunting people from department to department. Other forms of contact including home visits will also be available.
The local pension service should be in place by October made up of two key elements. A direct local service providing support directly to customers including a targeted visiting service and appointment based surgeries, and a ‘drop in’ surgery service; and partnership services provided with partners such as local authority and voluntary sector organisations.
These initiative should make life that much easier for people in their dealings with the different agencies.
