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NPC Blog
Fifth
anniversary of means-tested benefit is nothing to celebrate
Britain’s
biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC),
has marked the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the means-tested
Pension Credit by highlighting its failure to reach the very poorest older
people.
The latest official figures from the
Department for Work and Pensions[1]
reveal how ineffective the Pension Credit has been at tackling pensioner
poverty:
There
are up to 1.8m pensioners who are eligible, but do not receive the
Pension Credit (ENR - eligible non-recipients). This represents a
take-up rate of between 59%-67% - significantly below the government’s
stated target of 73%.
35% of
these individuals (ENRs) are aged 80 or over.
67% of
the 1.8m pensioners (ENRs) are living on incomes below the official
poverty level. In total, 2.5m pensioners in Britain are said to be
living in poverty.
Up to
£1.3bn in Pension Credit goes unclaimed.
The
Pension Credit take-up rate is the lowest in the East Midlands, London,
the North West, South West and Wales where the number of pensioners who
are eligible but don’t claim is higher than those actually receiving the
benefit (see table below for regional breakdown).
The DWP
study also offers a number of reasons as to why pensioners are reluctant to
make a claim. These include:
Feeling
that the process of claiming is demeaning
Being
unaware of the rules and/or a belief that they are ineligible to claim
An
unwillingness to disclose personal information
A
complicated and off-putting claiming process
Dot Gibson,
NPC vice president said: “When Gordon Brown was in opposition in 1993, he
claimed he wanted to be the first Labour chancellor to end the means-testing
of Britain’s elderly, yet he has been the architect behind the biggest
expansion of means-testing of pensioners since WWII. After five years, the
Pension Credit still fails to reach 2m of the country’s poorest older people
– because they are unwilling to take part in what they see as a demeaning
process. It’s time the government realised that pensioners and means-testing
simply don’t mix. What older people want is an end to means-testing and a
decent state pension which is set above the poverty level of £151 a week and
rises each year in line with earnings.”
ENDS
For more
information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
Prime
Minister’s warm words not matched by action
Britain’s biggest pensioner organization, the
National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has criticized the prime minister’s
speech at the
Labour party conference today,
as being strong on rhetoric but weak on action.
Commenting on the prime minister’s speech,
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: “Mr
Brown is right to call an ageing population a blessing rather than a burden,
but his speech still lacked any date as to when he was going to restore the
state pension link with earnings. Whilst he said no-one should live in fear
of old age, he has refused to give an immediate increase in the winter fuel
allowance and his commitment to better social care will be meaningless if it
does not include an end to means-testing. He had lots of warm words but very
little action.”
ENDS
For
further information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
Inflation rise will force more older people into poverty
Britain's
biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC),
claims that millions of older people are now on the brink of poverty,
following the latest figures released today showing a further increase in
inflation.
The official
poverty figures show that 2.5m (23% of the pensioner population) are living
on less than £151 a week. Up to 61% of all pensioner couples have an annual
income of £15,000, whilst 45% of all single pensioners live on just £10,000
a year.
Between 1997
and 2006, the number of people living in severe poverty – defined as living
on less than 40% of median population income – increased by 600,000. The
poorest quarter of pensioner households saw their incomes rise by less than
1% last year, well below inflation. The poorest single pensioners saw their
real incomes drop by 4%.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said:
“Nearly three million pensioner households already spend over 10% of their
income on energy and are living in fuel poverty. If you add onto household
bills things like food and council tax, millions more older people could be
using as much as 70% of their income just to keep their house warm and eat a
decent meal[i].
That doesn’t leave very much at the end of the week to enjoy life.”
“The real
reason pensioners are suffering is because they spend a higher proportion of
their income on those items that are rising fastest – whilst the purchasing
power of their state pension continues to decline. It’s a shocking
indictment of the government’s pensions’ policy that the number of older
people in poverty is higher now than five years ago and things look set to
get worse. It’s time the government used the growing surplus in the national
insurance fund to pay everyone a decent pension above the poverty line of
£151 a week that rises every year in line with the greater of inflation or
earnings. In light of the current increases in the costs of living –
pensioners simply cannot afford to survive.”
ENDS
For more
information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
[i]
For a single pensioner living on the pension credit guarantee of £124.05
a week, fuel, food and council tax bills can equal as much as 70% of
their annual income
Pensioners need
immediate financial help with paying fuel bills
– not energy efficiency schemes
Britain's biggest
older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has
called on the government to ensure its package of measures aimed at helping
families meet rising fuel bills (due to be announced tomorrow) includes an
immediate increase in the winter fuel allowance to £500 for all pensioner
households.
Joe Harris, NPC
general secretary said: "Many older people are already struggling to pay their
energy bills and the recent increases are likely to drag well over a million
more into financial hardship by the end of the year. Around 2.4m pensioner
households are currently spending more than 10% of their income on fuel bills,
and are living in fuel poverty. What these people need now is more money – in
the form of the winter fuel allowance so that they can avoid having to decide
whether to heat or eat. Energy efficiency schemes won’t help them pay their
bills this month and neither will they prevent over 20,000 pensioners dying from
the cold this winter.”
"Every time there
is a 1% increase in energy bills, a further 40,000 older people fall into fuel
poverty. It's time the government intervened to prevent the energy companies
making profits at the expense of vulnerable pensioners, raised the winter fuel
allowance to £500 and regulated social tariffs to give proper discounts to older
customers."
ENDS
For more
information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
FUEL POVERTY
FACTS
Nearly 90 per
cent of all excess winter deaths are of people over the age of 65.
There were
22,300 excess winter deaths of older people last year, and 260,000 since
1997.
Almost one in
three older people live in homes with inadequate heating or insulation
making their homes more difficult to heat and/or keep warm.
More than 1
in 4 people living in fuel poverty are over 70 years old
Average
annual energy bills now exceed £1,000. This will absorb 16 per cent of the
income of a single pensioner dependent on the pension credit minimum
guarantee and the current £250 Winter Fuel Payment.
BROWN’S TAX GRAB ON PENSIONS ROBS US OF £20000 EACH UK Express - UK
Figures from the National Pensioners Convention show that nearly one in four
retired people are living below the official poverty line of £151-a-week.
1 in 3 of
future pensioners face poverty in retirement
Britain's biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners
Convention (NPC), has claimed that today's Scottish Widows’ survey showing
that 1 in 3 people cannot afford to save for their retirement, is further
evidence that the government’s pensions’ policy is beginning to unravel.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "Most financial experts agree that
you need a pension pot of about £100,000 to provide an income in retirement
of around £6000 a year, but millions of today’s workers – even those in
occupational pension schemes – will not get anywhere near that amount. The
government’s entire pensions’ policy has relied on means-tested benefits and
good company pensions to take people out of poverty in retirement – but this
approach is now beginning to unravel. A third of pensioners will still be
means-tested in 2050 and good company pension schemes are becoming a thing
of the past.”
“The latest figures show that 1 in 4 pensioners already live below the
poverty line of £151 a week – 62% of pensioner couples get by on £10,000 or
less each year and it looks as if future generations will be even worse off
than their parents and grandparents. Rising fuel, food and council tax bills
are pushing people further into financial hardship, yet the government’s
answer to this looming pensions’ crisis is to tell people to work longer, by
raising the age of retirement to 68.”
“A strengthened national insurance based state pension set above the poverty
level and linked to earnings offers the most effective way of giving
everyone – both now and in the future – real financial security and dignity
in retirement.”
ENDS
For further information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on Tel: 07940-357-608
Notes to Editors
The National Pensioners Convention and the trade union movement are
staging the first ever lobby of parliament on 22 October 2008 to focus
on the need for a decent state pension for both today’s and tomorrow’s
pensioners. Further details available on www.npcuk.org
Equality Bill
marks beginning of the end of age discrimination
Britain’s
biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC),
has welcomed the publication of the Equality Bill today, but has called for
more practical measures to change attitudes towards the older population.
Pat Healy,
NPC vice president said: “Having equality on paper is a major step towards
tackling age discrimination in society, but putting that into practice is
going to be much harder to achieve. The devil will be in the detail of the
bill and with a possible delay of up to five years before this legislation
takes effect, millions of older patients, travellers and tenants will remain
second-class citizens.”
“Until such
time as society changes its attitude towards growing older, we have a right
to ask who is going to stop the doctor making a decision based on age rather
than clinical need? Who is going to prevent the insurance company from
denying travel insurance to someone over 80 and who is going to ensure that
society doesn’t continue to regard older people as a burden rather than a
resource?”
“When the
cabinet has a proportion of older people serving in it and pensioners are
given proper economic power through a decent state pension, then we’ll know
that ageism has really been consigned to the dustbin of history.”
ENDS
For more information contact
Neil Duncan-Jordan on Tel: 07940-357-608
Pensioners launch new care campaign as Government begins six
month consultation
Britain's biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention
(NPC) has today launched a new campaign entitled Care Free, to coincide with the
government's six month's consultation on the future of care and support
services.
The Care Free campaign will:
Reject the use of means-testing and call for care to be properly funded
by central government to provide free services to all without the use of
rationing criteria
Recognise that the use of personal budgets are not universally suitable
or the best way of providing the right type of care for all users
Demand the postcode lottery in provision of care is ended and replaced
with national standards of access and quality of services
Call for recognition and support, both in financial and practical terms,
for the families and carers of users
Champion the need for properly trained, supervised and paid staff to
assess, enable and care for users
Promote appropriate care to Britain’s diverse pensioner population
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "The voices of pensioners and their
carers must be heard loud and clear during this six month consultation period.
It seems that everyone acknowledges the growing crisis in social care, but
no-one seems prepared to do anything to tackle it. Local authorities have
tightened access to services because they have been starved of funds from
central government. As a result, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable pensioners
have been denied the care they so desperately need. Even those who need help
getting out of bed in the morning are being left to fend for themselves. In
effect, they either have to rely on friends or family, pay privately or go
without."
"Care in this country is still treated like a Cinderella service, which has been
under funded and overlooked for years. But those who need the care know that the
postcode lottery on access to services, the differing charges around the
country, the varying standards of care and the continued use of means-testing
are simply intolerable. The government has introduced an artificial dividing
line between personal and nursing care when all care should be provided free -
and no-one should be expected to sell their home simply to pay for care that in
hospital they would get free of charge."
ENDS
For further information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
Notes to Editors
In 1999, the Royal Commission into the funding of long-term care
recommended that all nursing (that which is carried out by a nurse and
usually in hospital but not always) and personal care (assistance with
eating, washing, going to the toilet etc) should be provided free at the
point of delivery.
However, the government did not accept this and introduced an artificial
dividing line between nursing and personal care so that if an individual was
in hospital - everything would be provided free, but if that individual went
into a residential/nursing or their own home only the nursing element of
care would be free and the rest would be subject to a means-tested charge.
Around 400,000 older people currently rely on residential care, with a
further 350,000 receiving some assistance in their own homes.
Average annual costs of nursing care are estimated at £26,000; while
residential care stands at around £19,000.
Every year, some 70,000 people are forced to sell their homes in order
to pay for the cost of their care.
In England, only those with assets (including the value of their
property) below £12,750 will have all their care fees met by the local
authority. Anyone with assets above £21,500 will be liable to pay all care
charges.
It has been estimated that to provide nursing and personal care free to
everyone who needs it would cost approximately £1.1bn a year.
Energy price rises will push 1.6m pensioners into fuel poverty
Britain's biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners
Convention (NPC), has claimed that today's announcement that energy bills
may rise later in the year by 40%, will push another 1.6m older people into
fuel poverty.
Dot Gibson, NPC vice president said: "Today's announcement will have a
devastating effect on those older people already struggling to pay their
energy bills and is likely to drag well over a million more into financial
hardship. Around 2.4m pensioner households are currently spending more than
10% of their income on fuel bills, and a 40% increase in energy bills will
mean that millions of older people will be facing even higher bills than
before and having to make the unenviable choice between whether they can eat
or heat."
"For every 1% increase in bills, a further 40,000 older people fall into
fuel poverty and every year, well over 20,000 die from the cold. A 40%
increase will therefore mean 1.6m older people falling into fuel poverty.
It's time the government intervened to prevent the energy companies making
profits at the expense of vulnerable pensioners, raised the winter fuel
allowance to £400 and regulated social tariffs to give proper discounts to
older customers."
ENDS
For more
information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
FUEL POVERTY
FACTS
Nearly 90 per cent of all excess winter deaths are of people over the
age of 65.
There were 22,300 excess winter deaths of older people last year, and
260,000 since 1997.
Almost one in three older people live in homes with inadequate heating
or insulation making their homes more difficult to heat and/or keep
warm.
More than 1 in 4 people living in fuel poverty are over 70 years old
Average annual energy bills now exceed £1,000. This will absorb 16 per
cent of the income of a single pensioner dependent on the pension credit
minimum guarantee and the current £250 Winter Fuel Payment
Pensioners
forced to open bank accounts
Hundreds of
thousands of pensioners are being told to open bank accounts if they want to
continue getting their state pension, according to Britain’s biggest
pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC).
Currently
around 400,000 over 60s still receive their weekly or monthly state pension
payment through a giro cheque that can be cashed at their local post office.
Up till now ministers have accepted that this arrangement could continue,
but the NPC has learnt that letters are being sent to these pensioners
telling them that the giro cheques are being withdrawn in 2010 and that they
will have to have their pension paid directly into a bank account.
The NPC,
which opposed the scrapping of the original pension book back in 2003,
believes that this latest move will not only further undermine the viability
of hundreds of local post office branches resulting from a loss of income,
but will also seriously restrict the ability of pensioners to manage their
day-to-day financial affairs.
Cheques are
issued to the pensioner’s home address on a regular basis to match the
current frequency of their benefit or pension payments, either weekly or
monthly. If the individual cannot collect their pension in person, they can
sign the back of the cheque to indicate that they have asked someone else to
cash it on their behalf. The person cashing the cheque will also have to
sign and provide suitable identification.
Dot Gibson,
NPC vice president (who is one of the 400,000 pensioners currently receiving
her pension by cheque) said: “For many older people, the cheque payment
enables them to easily get a friend or neighbour to collect their pension on
their behalf. It’s a flexible approach that helps those who may not always
be able to get to the post office in person.”
“Lots of
older of older people don’t have, don’t want or cannot open a bank account –
but they want to keep using their post office to collect their pension. It’s
outrageous that the government is now making it difficult for pensioners to
get at their own money. The decision to withdraw the cheque payment is yet
another attack on both the pensioner and the post office.”
The NPC
believes that the government is unable to legally stop paying pensions,
simply because an individual does not have a bank account, and is
considering a legal challenge to this latest move. In the meantime, they are
advising those affected to ignore any letters advising them to give up their
giro cheques in favour of opening a bank account.
On 15 February 2006, James Plaskitt MP, Department for Work and Pensions
minister told the House of Commons: “It is not the Department’s policy to
stop an individual’s pension payments if he or she refuses to receive
pension payments by the direct payment method. Customers who do not provide
account details are paid by cheque.”
Press Release
For immediate use: 10 June
2008
Government criticised for
failing to act as new figures show shocking rise in pensioner poverty
Britain’s biggest
pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has today
criticised the government for failing to tackle the growing problem of
pensioner poverty.
The latest
figures from the Households Below Average Income report published today show
that in the last year, an extra 300,000 pensioners fell below the official
poverty line, bringing the total number to 2.5m (23% of the pensioner
population).
This
represents the highest figure since 2003/4. The NPC believes this increase
is largely due to rising food, fuel and other household bills in relation to
the continued decline in the purchasing power of the basic state pension,
which is currently just £90.70 a week. This compares to the official poverty
figure for a single pensioner of £151 a week before housing costs.
Dot
Gibson, NPC vice president, who attended the official launch of the report
today, said: “It is a shocking indictment of the government’s pensions’
policy, that the number of older people in poverty is higher now than five
years ago. For years ministers have relied on both means-tested benefits and
the availability of company pension schemes to provide a decent income in
retirement – but the whole basis of this strategy is unravelling.
Means-testing remains inefficient and unpopular and most pensioners receive
less than £2000 a year from their occupational pensions. In light of the
current increases in the costs of living – pensioners simply cannot afford
to survive.”
“The
government has said it will restore the link between the state pension and
earnings in 2012, but by that time around three million of today’s
pensioners will be dead – and the pension’s purchasing power will have
continued to fall. The link with earnings will therefore only provide an
extra £1.40 a week more in 2012 than pensioners would have got anyway under
the present system. This is simply too little, too late.”
“It is
completely unacceptable that in the centenary year of the first ever state
pension, millions of older people are still living in poverty. If a society
is judged by how it treats its older citizens, then we are seriously
failing. Pensioners don’t want charity – they have earned the right to a
decent state pension that is set above the poverty level and rises each year
in line with earnings. It is time the government realised that older people
deserve better.”
ENDS
For more
information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
Pension
facts & figures - then & now
1908
·
Non-contributory pension
· Payable
to men and women at 70
· 5
shillings a week: represented between 20-25% of average earnings
·
Means-tested and based on character
2008
·
Contributory pension
· Payable
to men and women at 65 in 2024 and rising to 68 by 2044
· £90.70
a week: represents around 15% of average earnings
· Pension
not means-tested, but means-testing still exists for those who need
additional income
· One in
five of today's 11m pensioners live below the official poverty line, the
vast majority of them women. In 1891, 1.3m people were classed as paupers –
of which 31% were over 60-years-old
· The
National Insurance Fund currently has a surplus of £46bn, which is forecast
to grow to £114bn by 2012. This money is primarily intended to pay for state
pensions, but today’s pensioners are being denied a higher pension because
the government is using the money to fund other
expenditure
The government has launched a six month consultation on the care of the
elderly. As part of the NPC's response, we have launched a campaign entitled
Care Free, which aims to make all social care available without
charge. To find out more
download here.
The NPC DVD is available from NPC at £3.00 plus post & Packing
Paupers Progress
by Joe Harris. With a forward by Prof. Alan Walker, it's a short history, with illustrations, of Poor Relief and the struggle to establish the Old Age Pension. Cost £3.50 (inc p&p)
DECLARATION This Convention declares that every
pensioner has the right to choice, dignity, independence and
security as an integral and valued member of society.
These rights require an adequate state pension linked to average
earnings, comprehensive free health care and concessionary
travel on public transport
Contact us! Our address and contact details are: 19-23 Ironmonger Row, London
EC1V 3QN Tel: 0207-553-6510 Fax: 0207-553-6511
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