Campaigners pressing for action to lift tens of thousands of low income households out of "fuel poverty"

Ministers and energy companies are meeting campaigners pressing for action to lift tens of thousands of low income households out of "fuel poverty".
Ofgem, the energy regulator, is bringing together Government, industry and charities for a summit to address the plight of people struggling to pay rising gas and electricity bills.

A coalition of campaign groups released on Tuesday figures which, they said, showed the vast majority of pensioners and lone parents were now living in fuel poverty - defined as households spending more than 10% of their income on fuel costs.

Age Concern, the Child Poverty Action Group and National Energy Action said that almost one in five households, or 4.5 million people, were now affected.

According to their figures, the average fuel bill for 65 to 74-year-olds has leapt to £1,000, a rise of 15% for a single pensioner.
At the same time the price comparison service uSwitch.com published a survey suggesting 6.8 million households were in debt to their energy suppliers - with average arrears of £114.

Ministers say that they have put in place a raft of measures to tackle the problem - including winter fuel payments for pensioners - while the energy companies were required to invest £1 billion-a-year in making low income households more energy efficient.

Pensions Link to Earnings Blocked by Government

The media has focused for the last few days on the threat of a rebellion by Labour MPs on the abolition of the 10p tax rate but tonight there was an equally important vote in Parliament that has gone ignored by the press.The House of Commons was debating the final stages of the Government's Pensions Bill.

An amendment was moved and supported by a number of Labour MPs to urge the Government to set a date for the restoration of the link between earnings and pensions.The background to this issue is that as part of her attack on the welfare state Mrs Thatcher broke the link whereby state pensions would be increased each year by either the increase in inflation or earnings, whichever was the highest.

Raising pensions only in line with inflation has meant that pensioners have lost out on over £35 a week.In opposition the Labour Party promised to restore the link to earnings and after a long and hard campaign by pensioner organisations, particularly the National Pensioners Convention, Gordon Brown as Chancellor had to concede to restoring the link. However he only promised to do this at the earliest in 2012 and possibly only by 2015 if he judged the economic situation permitted.

This bitterly disappointed the pensioner groups because many current pensioners would simply not be alive by that time to enjoy the benefits of the restoration of the link. In the meantime 2 million pensioners remain in poverty. It is estimated by the Government that 60% of pensioners will eventually be forced to rely upon means tested benefits but the Government's own figures demonstrate that 40% of pensioners do not claim the means tested pensioner credits they are entitled to.

Tonight's amendment called upon the Government to announce the date when the earnings link will be restored in its next pre budget report. So it was hardly a revolutionary demand.

Nevertheless the Government opposed it and despite 20 Labour MPs voting against the Government the amendment was lost. It's an irony that 24 hours after the Government was able to find £30 billion to bail out the banks who have profiteered at our expense over the last decade, it can't find less than a half a billion to fulfil a longstanding pledge to our pensioners.

It demonstrates quite clearly where the Prime Minister's priorities lie.

New research reveals shocking reality of pensioner poverty

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC), Britain's biggest pensioner organisation, has claimed the latest pension research from the UK Statistics Authority reveals the shocking reality of pensioner hardship in 21st century Britain.Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "For years, successive governments told us that it was okay to keep the state pension low because private company pension schemes would ensure that everyone had a comfortable income in retirement. But these figures prove that was a myth. A 100 years after the first ever state pension and 62% of pensioner couples and at least 50% of single pensioners are living well below the official poverty line. It is a national scandal, yet the government's only solution is to offer people means-tested benefits and delay restoring the link with earnings until 2012. The country can afford to give all older people a decent pension of at least £135 a week that goes up each year in line with wages. After 100 years, it's time we ended pensioner poverty for good.

PENSION FACTS

• The state pension link with average earnings was broken in 1980. Had the link remained, today's state pension for an individual would now be worth £145.15 a week rather than £90.70.
• By the time the link is restored by the government in 2012, 3m of today's pensioners will have already died.
• The national insruance fund currently has a surplus balance of £46bn.
• Around 1.8m pensioners do not claim the means-tested Pension Credit, despite being eligible.
• 1 in 5 pensioners live below the official poverty line, the vast majority of them women.

For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608Visit www.pension 100.co.uk for information about the NPC's pension campaign

Pensioners stage 25p protest

Britain's biggest pensioner organisation is today calling on all older people aged 80 and over to send the 25p weekly age addition they receive, back to the Chancellor, in protest at the government's continued failure to substantially raise the basic state pension.

The National Pensioners Convention's (NPC) call comes on the day the state pension is increased by just £3.40 a week extra. But the additional 25p payment - first introduced in 1971 - is now seen by many older people as insulting and derisory.

Thirty seven years ago, the extra weekly payment for those aged 80 and over was set at 25p in line with the value of a bag of coal. At the time, it was considered a valuable addition to the weekly state pension of £5. Today, if it had risen relative to the state pension - it would be worth around £4.50 a week.

But over the years, its continued neglect has made it a symbol of discontent amongst Britain's elderly. Even pensions minister Mike O'Brien acknowledged in a parliamentary debate last year that the 25p payment was "an insult", after his mother had complained about it.

Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "There are around 2.6m people aged 80 and over, and every week they receive this pathetic payment which rubs their noses in the fact that their state pension of £90.70 a week, is so pitifully low. Today, the age addition can't even buy a 27p second class stamp. I think sending 25p back to the Chancellor will show how angry pensioners really are."

"This year represents the centenary of the state pension - yet 1 in 5 older people, particularly those older pensioners, are living below the official poverty line. The government has said it will restore the pension link to earnings in 2012, but by that time 3m of today's pensioners will have already died. We need a decent state pension now, set at around £135 a week, which allows all older people to live in dignity in retirement."