Legal News
Ministers Rule against Amendment to Pension Age Concession (3 November 2011)
Date: 03/11/2011
The Labour party has failed to force Government ministers to increase their efforts in aiding the thousands of women due to lose out on their pension claims as a result of a rise in the state pension age in 2020. The increase in the state pension age has already incurred a six-month delay to October 2020. The move is estimated to cost £1.1 billion. In a recent debate over the Pensions Bill, Labour claimed that the concession was not enough. The party pushed for an amendment of the Pensions Bill, targeted at aiding the women due to lose out by incurring a lengthier wait to claim their pension. Ministers ruled against this amendment by 235 votes to 183, following claims by the Work and Pensions minister, Lord Freud, that the move would cost the Government an additional £11 billion.
Original plans to increase the state pension age for men and women to 66 years of age by April 2020 resulted in fury from women's groups. It had been estimated that 2.6 million would be forced to incur a longer wait for their pension at what was widely considered short notice. Of these, approximately half a million would have been forced to incur a wait greater than one year and some 33,000 would have incurred a two-year delay. The Government's concession will reduce the length of additional time individuals have to wait for their state pension from a maximum of two years to just 18 months.
Duncan Lewis’ employment law solicitors can advise clients on pension law.