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Pensioners parliament 2009 reports

Annual Pensioners’ Parliament offers
a grilling for MPs,
a Pensioners’ Manifesto and Parky
 

  • MPs face Question Time session from 2000 delegates
  • Launch of a Pensioners’ Manifesto for the general election
  • Sir Michael Parkinson addresses delegates in his role as Care Ambassador

Up to two thousand leading members of Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), will gather on Tuesday June 2 for the start of the 17th annual Pensioners’ Parliament, at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. 

Highlights of the 3-day event will include: 

  • On day one (2 June): a two hour Question Time style session featuring Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP  (Pensions Minister), Nigel Waterson MP (Shadow Minister for Older People) and Paul Rowen MP (Lib Dem). They will face questions over pensioner poverty and the use of means-testing, whether council tax is fair, the need for dignity in care, how to tackle fuel poverty and the issue of MPs’ expenses.
     
  • On day two (3 June): Debates on the credit crunch and the impact it is having on older people, dignity in care, age equality and the launch of a Pensioners’ Manifesto (see below) for the forthcoming general election that will demand higher state pensions, free care, better public services and the right to live in a warm home.
     
  • On day three (4 June): a keynote speech by Sir Michael Parkinson in his role as Care Ambassador.

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “In the current economic crisis
pensioners are angry at the way their politicians have received huge handouts – whilst millions of older people are struggling to keep warm, eat properly and pay their bills. With the general election fast approaching now is the time to show all the parties that pensioners not only have votes, but are also prepared to use them.” 

“The launch of a Pensioners’ Manifesto is an important way of showing that candidates who want the support of the ‘grey vote’ will have to do much more on the issues of pensions, care and equality. The Pensioners’ Parliament will make it very clear to the politicians that pensioners want rights not charity, and if the money can be found to bail out a failing financial system, it can also be found to offer real financial security and dignity to Britain’s 11m older people. It’s time we stopped paying billions to bankers and peanuts to pensioners.”

ENDS 

For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608 

Notes for Editors

·        A more detailed programme is available at www.npcuk.org.

·        National and regional representatives from across the UK will be available for interview on request.

·        The event starts at 1pm on the North Promenade, Blackpool with a Scottish Piper and over 1000 marchers with banners.

·        The opening session will start at 2pm in the Empress Ballroom, Winter Gardens, Blackpool.

·        Contributions will also be made throughout the event by a number of guest speakers from the Care Quality Commission, Action on Elder Abuse, Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Pension Policy Institute.

·        A recent survey by the Hansard Society confirmed previous findings that the propensity to vote directly relates to age. 78% of 65-74-year-olds said they would definitely vote, compared to only 23% of those aged 18-24. 

The Pensioners’ Manifesto calls for: 

·        A basic state pension set above the official poverty level (estimated at £165 a week in 2009), which is linked to the higher of earnings or prices, and paid alongside other existing concessions, to provide some financial security for all.

·        Free long-term and social care funded from general taxation and provided to the highest standards in order to maintain dignity and without the need for means-testing, rationing or a postcode lottery.

·        Good quality local services funded through national income tax rather than council tax.

·        Free UK-wide travel on all forms of public transport to encourage independence and greater mobility, as well as helping the environment and reducing demand on care services.

·        An end to discrimination where it adversely affects the opportunities, goods and services available to older people.

·        A winter fuel allowance of £500 per pensioner household to help maintain a warm and comfortable home. 

 


Annual Pensioners’ Parliament gears up for General Election by asking MPs:

“Why should we vote for you?” 

  • MPs face Question Time session from 2000 delegates
  • Launch of a Pensioners’ Manifesto for the general election
  • Sir Michael Parkinson addresses delegates in his role as Care Ambassador

Up to two thousand leading members of Britain’s growing pensioner movement will gather on Tuesday June 2 for the start of the 17th annual Pensioners’ Parliament, at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

The 3-day event, organised by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), will include: 

  • On day one: a two hour Question Time style session featuring Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP  (Pensions Minister), Nigel Waterson MP (Shadow Minister for Older People) and Paul Rowen MP (Lib Dem). Questions will cover pensioner poverty and the use of means-testing, whether council tax is fair, the need for dignity in care, how to tackle fuel poverty and how the issue of MPs’ expenses may affect how older people vote.
     

  • On day two: the launch of a Pensioners’ Manifesto for the forthcoming general election that will demand higher state pensions, free care, better public services and the right to live in a warm home.
     

  • On day three: a keynote speech by Sir Michael Parkinson in his role as Care Ambassador.

For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608

 Notes for Editors

·        A more detailed programme and copy of the 6 key policies contained in the Pensioners’ Manifesto is available at:
 http://www.npcuk.org/parliament2009\PP Programme V2.pdf

·        National and regional representatives from across the UK will be available for interview on request.

·        The event starts at 1pm on the North Promenade, Blackpool with a Scottish Piper and over 1000 marchers with banners.

·        The opening session will start at 2pm in the Empress Ballroom, Winter Gardens, Blackpool.

·        Contributions will also be made throughout the event by a number of guest speakers from the Care Quality Commission, Action on Elder Abuse, Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Pension Policy Institute.

 

 

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 on the government to speed up the process of banning age discrimination in the field of health and social care.

 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 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 doctors making decisions based on age rather than clinical need? Who is going to ensure older people are properly fed in hospital and who ensure that older people are treated as valued human beings rather than resources that have passed their sell-by date?”

 “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 

 

Chancellor’s state pension guarantee is “virtually worthless”

Those in fuel poverty and pensioner savers have little to cheer

 

Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has described the Chancellor’s announcement that he would guarantee the state pension will increase next year by 2.5% as “virtually worthless”.

 

The NPC has calculated that the proposed 2.5% increase will give a rise next April of £2.40 a week – with millions of older women getting just £1.45. The Convention believes this will do little to tackle rising pensioner poverty, fuel poverty and the impact that the recession is having on older savers.

 

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Mr Darling’s proposed 2.5% rise in the state pension next year fails to address the pressures older people face now from the economic crisis. One in four pensioners still live in poverty and rising costs of food and fuel, combined with record lows in savings returns and underperforming pensions, mean that pensioners are suffering a disproportionate increase in the cost of living. In light of all this, the Chancellor’s promise to raise the state pension next year by just £2.40 a week sounds more like an insult.”

 

“Millions of older people have lost money from their savings. This generation has tried to put money aside for a rainy day – but no-one warned them of an economic monsoon. Extending the scope of the means-tested Pension Credit is not the answer. A better way to boost the economy and help all older people would be to raise the state pension to around £165 a week.”

 

“One in three pensioners is estimated to be spending more than 10% of their income on energy bills, placing them in fuel poverty, and the winter fuel allowance now covers just a fifth of the average bill, compared to a third when it was first introduced. The Chancellor’s decision not to raise it will do nothing to prevent a further 20,000 pensioners dying this winter from the cold.”

 

“It’s clear that the message to pensioners from today’s Budget is stop counting your savings, don’t turn up your heating, and if you make it to next April, make sure you don’t spend your extra £2.40 all at once.”

 

Pensioner facts and figures

  • Around 5m older people who have modest savings of around £10,000 have lost between £10 and £20 a week (up to as much as £1000 a year) as a result of the drop in interest rates.
  • The scale of pensioner poverty is rising - 822 pensioners fell into poverty every day last year. 2.5m older people now live below the official poverty line. Means-tested benefits fail to reach almost 2m of the poorest pensioners.
  • Older people face annual inflation rates around ten times higher than the rest of the population, according to a recent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Pensioners spend a larger proportion of their income on those items whose prices are rising fastest.

 

ENDS

 

For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608

 

Press Release

For use after 0001hrs 21 April 2009 

Call for Budget to tackle impact of the economic crisis on older population 

A new report from Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), is calling on the Chancellor to use his Budget on April 22 to introduce a series of measures to help hard-pressed pensioners who are struggling as a result of the recession. 

The report entitled The Retired Recession - How the economic crisis affects older people outlines four key areas of concern amongst older people and proposes a number of measures that would both boost pensioner incomes and stimulate local economies. The report focuses on:  

·        Loss of income for pensioner savers

The drop in the interest rate over the last 12 months has severely affected around 5m older people who have modest savings of £10,000 or more. Over this period they could have lost between £10 and £20 a week (up to as much as £1000 a year).  

Recent research suggests that because pensioner poverty is so finely balanced (with a large number of people just above and just below the poverty threshold) a small difference in income can have a dramatic effect on people.  

NPC Recommendation: Introduce combined tax allowances enabling pensioner couples to be assessed on a joint income rather than individually. This would mean that in most cases, older people would be exempted from paying any income tax. 

·        Rising costs of living

Older people face annual inflation rates around ten times higher than the rest of the population, according to a recent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Pensioners spend a larger proportion of their income on those items whose prices are rising fastest. Therefore, rising costs of food and fuel, combined with record lows in savings returns and underperforming pensions, mean that pensioners will suffer a disproportionate increase in the cost of living.

 

The scale of pensioner poverty is rising - 822 pensioners fell into poverty every day last year. 2.5m older people now live below the official poverty line. Means-tested benefits fail to reach almost 2m of the poorest pensioners.

 NPC Recommendation: Increase the state pension to £165 a week (official poverty level) as a way of tackling pensioner poverty and boosting local economies.

 ·        Rising fuel poverty

One in three pensioners is estimated to be spending more than 10% of their income on energy bills, placing them in fuel poverty. Average annual energy bills now exceed £1,000 and this absorbs 16% of the income of a single pensioner in receipt of the pension credit minimum guarantee. The Winter Fuel Allowance originally covered one third of the average bill, now it covers a fifth. Every year over 20,000 pensioners die of cold related illnesses.

 NPC Recommendation: Increase the Winter Fuel Allowance to £500 for every pensioner household. 

·        Cuts in essential services

Over the next few years the case will be made for public spending cuts and/or rises in taxation in order to pay for the bail out of the banking industry. This will mean benefits and services to older people may be under threat. One of the key areas will be social care, which is already in crisis and chronically under funded.  

NPC Recommendation: The forthcoming Green Paper on social care should include additional public spending of at least £2bn to meet growing demand and improvements in the quality and availability of care services. 

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Very few recognise the terrible effect that the recession is having on those in retirement. Pensioners urgently need a boost to their income to help them through the current economic crisis. Millions have lost money from their savings, others are struggling with the rising cost of living and some have seen cuts in the care they receive. This generation has tried to put money aside for a rainy day – but no-one warned them of a monsoon. Increasing the state pension, tackling fuel poverty, improving care services and helping older savers would not only put money into pensioners’ pockets in the short-term, but they would also ensure that local economies benefited, because pensioners would go out and spend their extra money. Budgets can’t just be for bankers – they must help older people as well.”

 ENDS

 1. Dot Gibson will be available to give a reaction to the Budget statement at No 4 Millbank Studios during the afternoon of 22 April

 2. For further information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on Tel: 07940-357-608

 

Monday 6 April - the basic state pension increases to just £95.25 a week, and for millions of older women, the figure is even less. At least one in four pensioners still live below the official poverty line and current government policy appears incapable of tackling the problem.
 
Relying solely on means-tested benefits for today's pensioners and occupational pension schemes for future generations simply won't work. Means-testing remains unpopular, demeaning and ineffective at reaching nearly 2m pensioners who need it and occupational schemes are facing a wave of closures as pension pots have lost £billions in the recent economic crisis.
 
The answer however remains simple. As a matter of urgency the basic state pension should  be raised above the poverty level estimated at £165 a week, paid to all in retirement and re-linked to earnings or prices (whichever is the greater).
 
Dot Gibson, General Secretary, National Pensioners Convention
Christine Blower, acting General Secretary, NUT
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, NUJ
Sally Hunt, General Secretary, UCU
Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary, CWU
Paul Kenny, General Secretary, GMB
Gerry Morrissey, General Secretary, BECTU
Dave Prentis, General Secretary, UNISON
Alan Ritchie, General Secretary, UCATT
Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, PCS
Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary, UNITE

State pension increase fails to tackle growing pensioner poverty

Figures show 822 older people fall into poverty every day

 

Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), is calling on the government to protect older people from the current economic crisis and end poverty in old age by raising the basic state pension above the official poverty level.

 

The call comes on the day (April 6) the state pension increases by just £4.55 a week for those with a full national insurance (NI) contribution record and by a mere £2.70 for those, mainly women, who were unable to pay sufficient NI throughout their working lives.

 

Today’s increase brings a full state pension to £95.25 a week and a reduced pension to £57.05. The official poverty level in 2006 was £151 a week and is now estimated to be around £165.

 

Across the UK today, the Convention has also organised a series of protests to raise awareness of the need for an improved state pension for both today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners.

 

In evidence to ministers, the NPC has highlighted the sustained and worsening scale of poverty affecting Britain’s older population. The latest figures show:

 

·               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%

·               At least 15% of pensioners – over 1.5m older people – are living in persistent poverty (below 60% median population income for three out of the last four years)

·               Pensioner poverty has risen in the last year by 300,000 - equivalent to 822 people a day - and now reaches 2.5m (1 in 4 older people). Two thirds of these pensioners are women

·               Means-tested benefits fail to reach 1.8m pensioners who are eligible to claim

·               One in three pensioner households – around 2.6m homes – are currently spending more than 10% of their income on energy bills and are regarded as suffering fuel poverty

·               In a recent EU survey, only pensioners in Latvia, Spain and Cyprus were considered more likely to fall into poverty than those in the UK. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has concluded that the proportion of pensioners below the poverty threshold will remain at its current level for at least the next decade, despite government reforms

·               Up to 9m existing workers have no other pension provision than that provided by the state. As many as 75% of all final salary occupational pension schemes have closed to new members and in the recent economic crisis, around £200bn has been wiped off of existing pension funds 

 

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “It’s a national disgrace that at least 1in 4 pensioners are living below the official poverty line, and millions more are struggling to meet the rising costs of living. Today’s increase in the basic state pension doesn’t go anyway near far enough to help protect pensioners against the economic crisis. Millions have lost money from their savings, whilst others see their utility, food, housing and council tax bills rising way above their pension. In light of the current increases in the costs of living – pensioners simply cannot afford to survive. We need a change of direction in pension policy before it’s too late.”

 

“For years ministers have relied on both means-tested benefits and the availability of private pension schemes to provide a decent income in retirement – but the whole basis of this strategy is unravelling – with means-testing remaining unpopular and ineffective at getting money to the poorest and many decent company pensions being replaced by insecure money-purchase schemes. Billions of pounds have been wiped off private pension funds in recent weeks – and up to 5m workers now face an insecure retirement.”

 

“Pensioners – both now and in the future – need dignity and security in retirement that only a decent state pension can provide. The government should use the huge £47bn surplus in the National Insurance Fund and give everyone a pension that takes them out of poverty. It’s not acceptable that there’s billions for bankers, but peanuts for pensioners.”
 

Letter to Secretary of State

 

Pension Protests will take place on April 6th at the following locations:

 

LONDON

Central London - 11.30am demonstration outside DWP HQ, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London. Protest letter to be handed to Secretary of State, James Purnell

 

Lewisham – 11.30 demonstration on Catford Broadway, outside of Age Concern, including ‘soup kitchen’

 

Wimbledon – 12 noon leafleting/petitioning stall in the Piazza, central Wimbledon


MIDLANDS 

Solihull – 11am demonstration outside Council Offices, Homer Road

 

Nottingham – 11.30am leafletting/petitioning stall in Slab Square, outside City Hall

 

Mansfield – 12 noon leafleting/petitioning stall in the market place


Hinckley and Bosworth – 12 noon leafleting/petitioning stall in the Town Centre
 
Leicester – 12 noon leafleting by the Clock Tower

 

EAST ANGLIA

Norwich – 10am leafleting/petitioning Haymarket Square, City Centre

 

Cambridge – 11.30am leafleting outside Market Place, Guildhall, City Centre

 

Kings Lynn – 10am leafleting in Town Centre

 

Peterborough – 10am leafleting in Town Centre

 

NORTH WEST

Liverpool – 12 noon-2pm rally in Williamson Square, Liverpool.

 

NORTH EAST

Newcastle – 10.30am leafleting/petitioning at Gray’s Monument, City Centre.

 

Middlesborough – 10am at Guisborough, Teeside Complex

 

YORKSHIRE

Sheffield – 12 noon, demonstration outside Sheffield Town Hall

 

HOME COUNTIES

Milton Keynes – 10.30am demonstration in Queensway, Bletchley (near Old Co-op)

 

Luton – 2pm demonstration outside Town Hall

 

Bedford – 10.30am leafleting/petitioning in Town Centre

 

Oxford – 12 noon leafleting/petitioning at the Carfax crossroads, Town Centre

 

Cheltenham – 10.30am public meeting (inc local MPs) in Town Hall

 

WESSEX

Poole – 10am leafleting/petitioning in Falklands Square, Dolphin Shopping Centre

 

Southampton – 12 noon leafleting/petitioning outside WH Smiths, City Centre Precinct

 

WALES

Cardiff – 10am leafleting/petitioning in Central Market

 

NORTHERN IRELAND 

Belfast – 1pm demonstration outside City Hall including Nigel Dodds MP 

 

SCOTLAND
Edinburgh - 11am - Leafleting Princes Street West End - Protest letter to be handed to Secretary of State for Scotland
Jim Murphy at the SOS Scotland Office Melville Crescent.  Local DWP Offices circulated with copy of James Purnell protest letter.

Pensioner movement elects first woman leader

Dot Gibson

 Britain's biggest pensioner organisation - the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) - has chosen its first female general secretary in its 30 year history.

 

Dot Gibson, a 74-year-old Londoner from Islington, was elected with 63% of the vote at the NPC's special delegate conference taking place this week in Coventry.

 

Ms Gibson started her working life with the Transport and General Workers' Union and eventually became a type-setter in publishing. In the early 1990s, she went six times to Bosnia as part of the Workers' Aid convoys and towards the end of the decade edited the Liverpool dockers' newspaper during their 28-month dispute.

 

For the last four years, Ms Gibson has been a vice president of the NPC and secretary of its Greater London region.

 

Ms Gibson said: "The campaigns and concerns of Britain's older population are not just for today's pensioners, but for our children and grandchildren. Everyone needs a living state pension that gives them security in retirement without the need for means-testing, and how we care for our ageing society, where they live, the rights they have and the services available to them must also be at the top of the political agenda. With the general election fast approaching, all political parties will have to take the demands of the pensioners' movement seriously and we will be stepping up our campaign to ensure they do."

 

ENDS

 

For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608

 

·        Ms Gibson is elected for a two-year term of office but is able to re-stand if she wishes

·        The NPC was originally formed in 1979 by Jack Jones, who became its first president

·        The NPC has an affiliated membership of 1.5m active in over 1000 groups across the UK

·        Ms Gibson will appear on Question Time Extra on the BBC News Channel at 11.35pm on 26 March 2009

 

Womens Network Newsletter

Tribute to Jack Jones
Founder of the NPC


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)



Pension, Benefit and Tax Rates from April 2008 to April 2009

State Pension changes over last 4 years


The Facts about National Insurance

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

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