STATE PENSION

[plaques]

From Gov.UK

Annual increases
The new State Pension increases each year by whichever is the highest:

earnings – the average percentage growth in wages (in Great Britain)
prices – the percentage growth in prices in the UK as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
2.5%

As a side issue you will notice that the increase in the minimum wage is deferred to April 2022. This increase will not affect pensions until 2023. that's if they stick to the rules. By then inflation (CPI) will be about 5% so another tweak to the rules may be on the cards.

[Stanley]

One thing is certain Ken, they'll not let us have the lot if it gets back to a reasonable figure....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on what the Public Accounts Committee says about the DWP's handling of the underpayment of pensions.
"A £1bn shortfall in state pension payments to tens of thousands of women has been branded "a shameful shambles" by a committee of MPs. A total of 134,000 pensioners missed out on their full entitlement owing to errors at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) dating back to 1985. Some of those failures risked being repeated during a correction programme, the Public Accounts Committee said".

[PanBiker]

Yes and that pre dates the shafting of thousands of women who were born in the early 50's. They all lost out to the tune of around £50,000 each. Judicial review has told them to make recompense in some way but nothing is happening.

[Stanley]

Too busy having working lunches with booze..... Johnson thinks they are common practice.

[Stanley]

The government are looking after us.... Word yesterday that the basic state pension goes up by £4 a week from April.... Deep Joy!

[plaques]

The triple lock pensions has now been resigned to the dustbin of history. Set as a cornerstone of the Tory manifesto it was a guarantee that the state pension would not lose value in real terms, Average earnings, Prices, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), 2.5 per cent. The wrecking ball moved in when Covid struck. The lower orders were down to minimum wages or no jobs at all. The rich and famous virtually doubled their income. Average salaries rose to over 8%. Out went the Average earning element. Now inflation has struck possibly 7% to 8%. while pensions are 3%. The real terms statement is looking like a sick joke. Next year since inflation is calculated on a year on year basic it could have dropped back to 3% but remember the 8% increase still has to be paid for. However the precedent has been set and this round of global inflation will be see as a aberration and can safely be ignored. Safe in our hands.

[Stanley]

As usual Ken, spot on. That's exactly what is happening. The situation is made worse by competition amongst the top Tories to prepare for the leadership contest. Johnson is taking every opportunity he can to sound bullish and statesman-like by charging into Ukraine, pandering to the Tories who want Covid regulations shredded so they can get back to making money. Sunak is hammering the poor, protecting the hedge funds and developers and talking about 'sound money'. He wants to be seen as an iron chancellor when it comes to a ballot. Liz Truss is trying to emulate Margaret Thatcher but looking and sounding foolish as she rattles her tiny sabre.
What they should really focus on is the reason why Cameron and Osborne brought the Triple Lock in in the first place. They wanted to keep the pensioners onside. Ditching them may be a bad move...... there are a lot of them!
From DWP statistics:- There were 12.4 million people receiving the State Pension at February 2021, a decrease of 130,000 on a year earlier. Since December 2018, the State Pension Age has been raised above 65 for both men and women, resulting in fewer new claims and since October 2020 the minimum State Pension Age has stood at 66 years.

[PanBiker]

Since December 2018, the State Pension Age has been raised above 65 for both men and women, resulting in fewer new claims and since October 2020 the minimum State Pension Age has stood at 66 years.

They may be the official dates but in reality 50's born women like Sally were denied their pensions starting in 2014. In her case it was late 2013 when she was told she would not be getting her pension, just less than 12 month notice of the planned robbery.

The government were ordered by the courts last year to make compensation but nothing has happened.

[Stanley]

Sunak isn't going to pay anything out until he is dragged kicking and screaming back into the courts.
This government is committed to clawing back not only the money spent on Covid and the NHS but the control they had in the 19th Century over the working population. I have argued since 2010 that this is 'The Tory Project'. Never voiced openly of course but every policy has been aimed at moving us in that direction. This is why tax increases like NI are aimed at the workers. The imbalance in the distribution of wealth increases and more and more wealth migrates up the scale to the wealthiest in society. Despite this (and the fact that their pockets are being picked as well.) the blue rinse brigade and the shires vote the Tories back in. Don't assume that the current cloud hanging over the leadership and the polls will make any difference. This is why the May local elections will be4 interesting.

[PanBiker]

Sunak isn't going to pay anything out until he is dragged kicking and screaming back into the courts.

The case has been as far as the Supreme Court, then the Court of Appeal and then a Judicial Review. The government have been found to have unfairly treated thousands of 50's born women and ordered to do something about it. That should be enough. Rishi found millions to give to his mates for phantom PPE. All that has just disappeared off shore probably. If it wasn't the Lords of the Universe they would be in prison for robbery.

[Stanley]

Agreed Ian, all correct. We are being governed by a bunch of liars and spivs.....

[Whyperion]

From DWP statistics:- There were 12.4 million people receiving the State Pension at February 2021, a decrease of 130,000 on a year earlier. Since December 2018, the State Pension Age has been raised above 65 for both men and women, resulting in fewer new claims and since October 2020 the minimum State Pension Age has stood at 66 years.

Isnt the 130,000 about the number of excess deaths from covid over 2020-2021 ?

[Whyperion]

might be worth noting the DWP Financial Support for persons on Attendance Allowance here , as part of the energy price crises abatement program of the government. The Trailed £150 payment that was due to be paid from last monday (19th Sept) has finally trickled down into my mothers account. Presumably it is now on the way to everyone else, or maybe it is sent out by the old weel/day payment from ones NI Number / surname algorithm

[Whyperion]

Still totally confused on Energy Support for Pensioners
It appears that a household with a person over 80 years of age on the qualifying date will get (Sometime in November is present indication) £600.
All other state pensioners (actually I think it is on age and may also apply to persons whom are not entitled to a UK based state pension) will get £500 per household.
Actually it could be more money than this, as it is a payment per individual, so three pensioners could get £350 + £250 (for the £600 household) +£250 , I did know things like three sisters that lived in one house so I suppose it does make sense that the extra room gets more heating.

Quite why someone under 80 is deemed to spend £100 less on fuel is a bit unknown to me (but I do know a lot of my southern softey older friends seem to increase tremendously the heat in their rooms)

[plaques]

Quite why someone under 80 is deemed to spend £100 less on fuel is a bit unknown to me (but I do know a lot of my southern softey older friends seem to increase tremendously the heat in their rooms)

Our house core temperature is now 61F. Only one room gets any heat in the evening then up to about 67F. Fortunately we don't suffer from any health conditions that require higher temperatures. Its easy to label people as Softey but we don't know their circumstances and making giant assumptions is a typical media ploy that should be avoided at our level.

[Whyperion]

Quite why someone under 80 is deemed to spend £100 less on fuel is a bit unknown to me (but I do know a lot of my southern softey older friends seem to increase tremendously the heat in their rooms)

Our house core temperature is now 61F. Only one room gets any heat in the evening then up to about 67F. Fortunately we don't suffer from any health conditions that require higher temperatures. Its easy to label people as Softey but we don't know their circumstances and making giant assumptions is a typical media ploy that should be avoided at our level.

I was waiting for the medical response that over 80s tend to have issues like thinning of skin, less insulated, less capable of being safely mobile in the home , probablity of poor circulation. As I said my freinds roast me, and mum has the fire up enough to dry her legs out, her flat has generally got warmer over the years as cavity wall insulation and double glazing have been installed

[Stanley]

Quite right Ken and we all know our comfort level which is almost always the one we are healthiest at. Mine is 20C and anything below that means I have cold hands and feet if not moving about. Anyone who gets dogmatic about lower temperatures being healthy or desirable had better not get to an advanced age. They might find they have been talking rubbish.

[Stanley]

I heard a brief statement on R4 news this morning that the Pensions Ombudsman is to publish the results into an enquiry about Women's pensions this morning.
(I seem to have found a very old topic!

[PanBiker]

Indeed, Sally is waiting along with thousands of others with baited breath!

Whatever happens it won't matter to the women who have died waiting for justice.

[PanBiker]

Just been on Sky News, positive recommendations from the Ombudsman. Sally was shown on one of her jaunts down to Parliament with the WASPI movement.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report...
Millions of women born in the 1950s have long been furious about not being told in a timely way that they would be affected by the rising state pension age. Now the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has published a report saying they should be compensated. Carole Cooper, 68, from south Cambridgeshire, says the government has "stolen £45,000" from her. She should have retired in 2015 and had no idea that she wasn't going to be paid her state pension. She only found out by applying for her bus pass and being told she wasn't old enough. "I worked hard all my life and then I had to wait a whole six years with no income." She had to spend £20,000 by taking a big chunk of money out of a private pension pot to re-train in healthcare, including reiki, to make some income until she turned 66. Carole says she is angry about the level of compensation suggested by the ombudsman of between £1,000 and £2,950. "I don't want compensation, I want the money you have stolen from me," she says.
There is much more of course, read the whole of the report.
However, the big problem is that the Ombudsman's opinion is only that, it is advisory but carries no authority. I heard a report on R4 saying that the relevant department has already said it won't pay out.
Once again women have been treated as chattels, not citizens and I have every sympathy for them. I did hear a report of the many billions the government has saved already.
As a matter of interest the actual decision to change the pension age was made by the coalition government under Cameron. Another blessing form 14 years of Tory misrule.
I found this in another report.....
Angela Madden, chair of the campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), said: "I'm pleased the report is finally out. This investigation has gone on for five long years. I'm pleased that [the ombudsman] recognises there has been injustice." Waspi had called for compensation of £10,000 or more per woman, which for the 3.6 million women it claims were affected, would total £36bn for the government, an amount Ms Madden acknowledged would be "huge". But, she said: "The government saved £181bn by sneaking this in through the backdoor, by trying to get away without actually telling us, because I'm sure that that was a political choice."

[PanBiker]

They owe Sally about £46,000 as well. It's not compensation it is earnings stolen a squandered on other vanity projects by the Tories.

[Stanley]

I find it typical that the subject of the stolen pensions has dropped out of the news stream completely this morning. The attitude is that this is about women and therefore not important. It would be a different kettle of fish if the subject had been male pensions or the pensions of CEOs of major companies.
WASPI must not let themselves be buried like this. It's an election year, they have a voice!
They should play 'Alice's Restaurant' and listen to the words. "If they shout loud enough they'll think it is a movement!".