Staying warm in the winter
Posted by Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, at 14:57, Thu 18 January 2007:
Since Labour was elected in 1997, I have been Pensions Minister twice. The first time was in 1999, and then I did the job again in 2005-6. It is a policy area that I feel very strongly about, and where the Government has made a lot of progress.
There is still a great deal to do. The new Pensions Bill was published at the end of last month. The state pension will rise in line with earnings from about 2012, and the state pension age will increase from 65 to 66 in the 2020s. Further details on the new system of personal pension accounts have been published. Workers will automatically be enrolled into them. They will be able to opt out, but, if they stay in, employers will be required to contribute too.
But I wanted to concentrate this week on today’s pension system. This year, the Government will have spent an extra £11 billion on pensioner incomes compared with what would have been spent if we had left the system as it was in 1997. Almost half the extra has gone to the least well off third of pensioners.
Before 1997, 2.8 million pensioners were living below the official poverty line – some on as little as £69 per week through income support. It was a disgrace. The average pensioner household is now £1,400 per year better off in real terms following tax and benefit changes since 1997.
In the past, single women pensioners did particularly badly. They have benefited greatly from the introduction of Pension Credit in 2003. Making the system fairer for women is also one of the main aims of the pension reforms now under way.
Pension Credit means that no single pensioner now need live on less than £114 per week – compared with £69 in 1997. For pensioner couples, the rate is £174 per week. The rates will go up in April – to £119 for single pensioners and £181.70 for couples.
However, pensioners in East Ham have often complained to me that Pension Credit is means tested, and that some who are entitled are not receiving it. This is a fair point.
That is why I have joined forces with EAGA, the warm homes agency, to host a drop-in session for older people this week. It will be held this Friday, 15 December, between 10:30am-1:30pm at East Ham Town Hall. There will be free, confidential advice about which benefits people can claim, and how to apply. Please do come if you are interested – and bring any supporting documents you have about your current benefits.
There will also be advice on a number of other issues. A crime prevention officer will give suggestions on how to keep safe in Newham. Representatives from Newham Warm Homes, Community Links, the Council’s Social Regeneration Unit and Newham Age Concern will all be there too.
If you would like any further information about the event, please do not hesitate to contact my office on 020 7219 4000. I hope to see you there.
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