10-02-04

Government must admit Pension Credit is failing – Barrett

John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today called on the Government to admit the failure of the pension credit and to increase the basic state pension to help reduce pensioner poverty.

Mr Barrett used both Work & Pensions Questions yesterday and Scottish Questions today in the House of Commons to highlight the low take-up rate of pension credit in Scotland.  Latest figures show that almost 130,000 Scottish pensioners are still not getting the financial help they need and deserve.

Mr Barrett has also received a large number of letters from elderly constituents, who are concerned about the process of applying.  As he mentioned in the House of Commons yesterday, one constituent from Drylaw felt that after answering the questions on the form she "felt stripped of all dignity and decided not to bother in the end."
 
In a statement, John Barrett said:

"It is clear from these latest figures that the pension credit is failing to get to hundreds of thousands of pensioners who need it.  In fact on current trends, it will be another 30 years before we get to full take-up.

"Although I have been encouraging pensioners in my own constituency to apply, I have to accept that many are finding the application process both confusing and degrading.

"The Government has to accept that its mass means testing of pensioners is failing to tackle the poverty amongst our senior citizens.  The Department of Work & Pensions has to now look seriously at introducing a substantial increase in the state pension, with extra help for older pensioners who tend to be the poorest.  That way, we can ensure all pensioners get a better deal from the state in their retirement."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• John Barrett asked the following question in the House of Commons yesterday:

John Barrett (Edinburgh, West) (LD): How many pensioner households in Scotland are in receipt of pension credit. [153176]

The Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks): I am pleased to report that so far, as at 31 January, there were 229,000 households in Scotland, comprising approximately 271,000 individuals, receiving pension credit. We have today published the latest monthly pension credit progress report, including numbers of recipient households in each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain. The hon. Gentleman will be interested to learn that more than 2,000 households now receive pension credit in his constituency, 73 per cent. of which are financial gainers as a result.

• The figures of 271,000 thousands receiving pension credit marks only a 57.5% take up of the 400,000 pensioner households in Scotland, which the Government said would be eligible for the pension credit.  It means 129,000 pensioner households are still not getting the money they deserve.

• The take-up level at the beginning January was 56.1%, marking an increase of 1.4% in one month.  At this rate, it will take 30 years to get to a 100% take-up.