Oh, what a mess our economy is in, Banks going bust, the Footsie Index going down and those expecting a good pension on retirement having saved hard cash see it going down the drain.
The Banks and Investment Companies who paid their Executives obscene amounts of money in bonuses are crying their eyes out and for what? Sheer greed - and we are all paying the cost.
Add to that inflation in food, petrol, heating and lighting and a pension which cannot cope with such increases then we have a problem.
Not so, of course, the Public Authority Pension because we guarantee that no matter what it costs. Five years ago their pension was £44million in deficit.
Last year it had increased to £160million in deficit. Heaven knows how much in debt it is now with the Stock Market crash.
Over the years we have increased our share of contributions to their Pension Fund from 10.4% of their salary to 19.1% in 2008/09 in the vain hope that the deficit would reduce - no chance! In 2007/08, as employers, we paid through our council tax £10.9million towards the pension fund - that is £143 on a Band D council tax.
We certainly seem to have a two tier society - those who are in the boat and the rest of us trying to keep it afloat.
How long will it be before Central Government realises that this pension is unsustainable, or will they not want to upset the Unions?
The Credit Crunch - one mans opinion by Ken Lacey of Weston Super Mare Senior Citizens Forum
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
The case for an Increased Pension
Our pension is provided by the National Insurance Fund (NIF) which is the accumulated funds of the National Insurance Scheme set up by the Beveridge Report after the Second World War.
The income of the NIF consists of compulsory contributions from employees, employers and the self-employed, plus interest on its investments. Since the·1990s the Fund was made up of 11 % of employees' wages and 12.8% from employers contributions and it has been growing with contributions actually outweighing ,payments. The Government Actuary estimates that the NIF surplus in 2007/08 was £46billion that will rise over the next five years to £115billion.
The portion of contributions that goes. towards meeting the cost of the NHS is top sliced and is never paid into the NIF Fund. This is because once money is paid into the NIF it may only be used for the payment of Pensions and Benefits or for the cost of administering those pensions.
The Fund exists in a real sense and is held separate from consolidated revenue. Contributions are not taxes because they are not directly available for general expenditure by Government.
It has been alleged that three Ministers have admitted that money has been diverted from the Fund instead of using it to increase State Pensions. It is stated that the Fund's surplus is being used to finance expenditure which is totally unrelated to the purposes for which the Fund was set up.
It is also alleged that the surplus used to be invested in Government Gilts but since 2006 it has been invested in a Call Notice Deposit Account with the Commissioners for the reduction of national debt. If the Government has been using the surplus in the NIF to fund other public expenditure from the Pension Fund, it would appear to be a very questionable procedure.
It may be seen as a justifiable virement by Government Ministers but pensioners on low incomes may consider it a misappropriation of funds.
Joe Harris, the NPC Secretary, says it would cost £600million to restore the link between earnings and pensions now and £9billion to pay everyone a pension of £114 per week. The money is clearly there and there is no reason why pensioners should subsidise Government expenditure at the expense of having a decent pension.
If these allegations are correct, then we will await the outcome of the NPC revelations with considerable interest.
Item by Ken Lacey of Weston Super Mare Senior Citizens Forum
The income of the NIF consists of compulsory contributions from employees, employers and the self-employed, plus interest on its investments. Since the·1990s the Fund was made up of 11 % of employees' wages and 12.8% from employers contributions and it has been growing with contributions actually outweighing ,payments. The Government Actuary estimates that the NIF surplus in 2007/08 was £46billion that will rise over the next five years to £115billion.
The portion of contributions that goes. towards meeting the cost of the NHS is top sliced and is never paid into the NIF Fund. This is because once money is paid into the NIF it may only be used for the payment of Pensions and Benefits or for the cost of administering those pensions.
The Fund exists in a real sense and is held separate from consolidated revenue. Contributions are not taxes because they are not directly available for general expenditure by Government.
It has been alleged that three Ministers have admitted that money has been diverted from the Fund instead of using it to increase State Pensions. It is stated that the Fund's surplus is being used to finance expenditure which is totally unrelated to the purposes for which the Fund was set up.
It is also alleged that the surplus used to be invested in Government Gilts but since 2006 it has been invested in a Call Notice Deposit Account with the Commissioners for the reduction of national debt. If the Government has been using the surplus in the NIF to fund other public expenditure from the Pension Fund, it would appear to be a very questionable procedure.
It may be seen as a justifiable virement by Government Ministers but pensioners on low incomes may consider it a misappropriation of funds.
Joe Harris, the NPC Secretary, says it would cost £600million to restore the link between earnings and pensions now and £9billion to pay everyone a pension of £114 per week. The money is clearly there and there is no reason why pensioners should subsidise Government expenditure at the expense of having a decent pension.
If these allegations are correct, then we will await the outcome of the NPC revelations with considerable interest.
Item by Ken Lacey of Weston Super Mare Senior Citizens Forum
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Prime Minister’s warm words not matched by action
Britain’s biggest pensioner organization, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has criticized the prime minister’s speech at the Labour party conference today, as being strong on rhetoric but weak on action.
Commenting on the prime minister’s speech, Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: “Mr Brown is right to call an ageing population a blessing rather than a burden, but his speech still lacked any date as to when he was going to restore the state pension link with earnings. Whilst he said no-one should live in fear of old age, he has refused to give an immediate increase in the winter fuel allowance and his commitment to better social care will be meaningless if it does not include an end to means-testing. He had lots of warm words but very little action.”
Commenting on the prime minister’s speech, Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: “Mr Brown is right to call an ageing population a blessing rather than a burden, but his speech still lacked any date as to when he was going to restore the state pension link with earnings. Whilst he said no-one should live in fear of old age, he has refused to give an immediate increase in the winter fuel allowance and his commitment to better social care will be meaningless if it does not include an end to means-testing. He had lots of warm words but very little action.”
Friday, 19 September 2008
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Inflation rise will force more older people into poverty
Britain's biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), claims that millions of older people are now on the brink of poverty, following the latest figures released today showing a further increase in inflation.
The official poverty figures show that 2.5m (23% of the pensioner population) are living on less than £151 a week. Up to 61% of all pensioner couples have an annual income of £15,000, whilst 45% of all single pensioners live on just £10,000 a year.
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%.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: “Nearly three million pensioner households already spend over 10% of their income on energy and are living in fuel poverty. If you add onto household bills things like food and council tax, millions more older people could be using as much as 70% of their income just to keep their house warm and eat a decent meal[i]. That doesn’t leave very much at the end of the week to enjoy life.”
“The real reason pensioners are suffering is because they spend a higher proportion of their income on those items that are rising fastest – whilst the purchasing power of their state pension continues to decline. It’s a shocking indictment of the government’s pensions’ policy that the number of older people in poverty is higher now than five years ago and things look set to get worse. It’s time the government used the growing surplus in the national insurance fund to pay everyone a decent pension above the poverty line of £151 a week that rises every year in line with the greater of inflation or earnings. In light of the current increases in the costs of living – pensioners simply cannot afford to survive.”
For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
[i] For a single pensioner living on the pension credit guarantee of £124.05 a week, fuel, food and council tax bills can equal as much as 70% of their annual income
The official poverty figures show that 2.5m (23% of the pensioner population) are living on less than £151 a week. Up to 61% of all pensioner couples have an annual income of £15,000, whilst 45% of all single pensioners live on just £10,000 a year.
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%.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: “Nearly three million pensioner households already spend over 10% of their income on energy and are living in fuel poverty. If you add onto household bills things like food and council tax, millions more older people could be using as much as 70% of their income just to keep their house warm and eat a decent meal[i]. That doesn’t leave very much at the end of the week to enjoy life.”
“The real reason pensioners are suffering is because they spend a higher proportion of their income on those items that are rising fastest – whilst the purchasing power of their state pension continues to decline. It’s a shocking indictment of the government’s pensions’ policy that the number of older people in poverty is higher now than five years ago and things look set to get worse. It’s time the government used the growing surplus in the national insurance fund to pay everyone a decent pension above the poverty line of £151 a week that rises every year in line with the greater of inflation or earnings. In light of the current increases in the costs of living – pensioners simply cannot afford to survive.”
For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
[i] For a single pensioner living on the pension credit guarantee of £124.05 a week, fuel, food and council tax bills can equal as much as 70% of their annual income
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Pensioners need immediate financial help with paying fuel bills
Pensioners need immediate financial help with paying fuel bills
– not energy efficiency schemes - which will take years to install - at the present performance of regional central heating projects!!!
Britain's biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has called on the government to ensure its package of measures aimed at helping families meet rising fuel bills (due to be announced tomorrow) includes an immediate increase in the winter fuel allowance to £500 for all pensioner households.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "Many older people are already struggling to pay their energy bills and the recent increases are likely to drag well over a million more into financial hardship by the end of the year. Around 2.4m pensioner households are currently spending more than 10% of their income on fuel bills, and are living in fuel poverty. What these people need now is more money – in the form of the winter fuel allowance so that they can avoid having to decide whether to heat or eat. Energy efficiency schemes won’t help them pay their bills this month and neither will they prevent over 20,000 pensioners dying from the cold this winter.”
"Every time there is a 1% increase in energy bills, a further 40,000 older people fall into fuel poverty. It's time the government intervened to prevent the energy companies making profits at the expense of vulnerable pensioners, raised the winter fuel allowance to £500 and regulated social tariffs to give proper discounts to older customers."
FUEL POVERTY FACTS
– not energy efficiency schemes - which will take years to install - at the present performance of regional central heating projects!!!
Britain's biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has called on the government to ensure its package of measures aimed at helping families meet rising fuel bills (due to be announced tomorrow) includes an immediate increase in the winter fuel allowance to £500 for all pensioner households.
Joe Harris, NPC general secretary said: "Many older people are already struggling to pay their energy bills and the recent increases are likely to drag well over a million more into financial hardship by the end of the year. Around 2.4m pensioner households are currently spending more than 10% of their income on fuel bills, and are living in fuel poverty. What these people need now is more money – in the form of the winter fuel allowance so that they can avoid having to decide whether to heat or eat. Energy efficiency schemes won’t help them pay their bills this month and neither will they prevent over 20,000 pensioners dying from the cold this winter.”
"Every time there is a 1% increase in energy bills, a further 40,000 older people fall into fuel poverty. It's time the government intervened to prevent the energy companies making profits at the expense of vulnerable pensioners, raised the winter fuel allowance to £500 and regulated social tariffs to give proper discounts to older customers."
FUEL POVERTY FACTS
- Nearly 90 per cent of all excess winter deaths are of people over the age of 65.
- There were 22,300 excess winter deaths of older people last year, and 260,000 since 1997.
- Almost one in three older people live in homes with inadequate heating or insulation making their homes more difficult to heat and/or keep warm.
- More than 1 in 4 people living in fuel poverty are over 70 years old
- Average annual energy bills now exceed £1,000. This will absorb 16 per cent of the income of a single pensioner dependent on the pension credit minimum guarantee and the current £250 Winter Fuel Payment.
For more information contact Neil Duncan-Jordan on 07940-357-608
Friday, 8 August 2008
Foreign fuel giants accused of ripping off Britons
Foreign energy firms have been accused of 'picking the pockets' of 11 million British customers while capping price rises in their home countries.
French-owned EDF has announced a 22 per cent rise in gas bills and 17 per cent on electricity for its 5.5million UK users.
At the same time, it has secretly raised gas prices for some of its most vulnerable customers by as much as 75 per cent.
The increases are in stark contrast to the situation in France.
EDF has been told by the government there to cap its increases on electricity to just 2 per cent and gas to 5 per cent.
There are fears the company, which is part-owned by the French government, is looking to protect its profits by imposing punishing increases on UK families.
The price cap in France will not stop EDF imposing big rises in the cost of electricity it sells to Britain via a cable under the Channel.
The increases were strongly criticised yesterday by Ed Mayo, chief of the National Consumer Council.
'Closed and protectionist European energy markets end up picking the pockets of consumers in this country,' he said.
He suggested Britain should consider introducing French-style price caps. 'If the French are capping prices, that is something we should be looking at. We should learn from the French,' he said.
'My concerns are for people on fixed income, such as pensioners, who will be switching off their electricity and heating this winter. That will lead to more illness and disease.'
Mr Mayo said foreign owned power companies - such as EDF, RWE Npower and E.on of Germany, and Iberdrola of Spain, which owns Scottish Power - must show they are not raising prices in the UK to subsidise customers in other countries.
Criticism has also been levelled at the German government for failing to open its energy market to competition.
He was speaking at a press conference to announce the name of a new 'super-watchdog', Consumer Focus, which will replace the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch.
EDF, like the other 'big six' power suppliers, has a series of tariffs linked to the amount of gas that customers use.
It has increased the charge for 132,000 low users by up to 75 per cent - taking the charges up from 3.984p per kilowatt hour to 7p. A low-user customer who perhaps only has gas for a cooker will see the annual bill rise from £106.77 a year to £187.60.
EDF customer Philip Williams, 69, who lives alone in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, said: 'I couldn't believe it when I got the bill and found the price had gone up by 75 per cent, not 22 per cent as we were told. I've had no notice that it would go up this much.
'During the winter months my bills will go through the roof.'
Consumer group Energywatch said: 'The message this sends out is that people who try to be careful and cut down on their use of gas end up getting penalised with bigger increases in bills than everyone else.
'All the evidence is that energy companies are disregarding the needs of their most vulnerable customers.'
LibDem energy spokesman Steve Webb suggested firms such as EDF may try to boost profits in Britain to counter price caps in their home countries.
'EDF will have to make up the shortfall somehow,' he said. 'They may have to look to customers in Britain.'
The 'big six' power suppliers also charge more than 3.5million customers who have prepayment meters around £150 a year more for their heat and light compared with those who pay via direct debit.
These firms offer social tariffs which are supposed to cut the bills of the estimated 4.5million households which are in fuel poverty.
However, the deals are wrapped in small print with the result that only a tiny fraction of eligible households are signed up.
A spokesman for EDF denied UK customers will subsidise those in France. He said both are standalone profitable businesses.
He added: 'EDF Energy has always taken its responsibility to vulnerable customers very seriously and has gone far beyond regulatory obligations to support customers struggling to pay energy bills and to keep warm.'
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23528800-details/%27Pickpocket%27+foreign+fuel+giants+accused+of+ripping+off+Britons+to+keep+energy+bills+down+at+home/article.do
French-owned EDF has announced a 22 per cent rise in gas bills and 17 per cent on electricity for its 5.5million UK users.
At the same time, it has secretly raised gas prices for some of its most vulnerable customers by as much as 75 per cent.
The increases are in stark contrast to the situation in France.
EDF has been told by the government there to cap its increases on electricity to just 2 per cent and gas to 5 per cent.
There are fears the company, which is part-owned by the French government, is looking to protect its profits by imposing punishing increases on UK families.
The price cap in France will not stop EDF imposing big rises in the cost of electricity it sells to Britain via a cable under the Channel.
The increases were strongly criticised yesterday by Ed Mayo, chief of the National Consumer Council.
'Closed and protectionist European energy markets end up picking the pockets of consumers in this country,' he said.
He suggested Britain should consider introducing French-style price caps. 'If the French are capping prices, that is something we should be looking at. We should learn from the French,' he said.
'My concerns are for people on fixed income, such as pensioners, who will be switching off their electricity and heating this winter. That will lead to more illness and disease.'
Mr Mayo said foreign owned power companies - such as EDF, RWE Npower and E.on of Germany, and Iberdrola of Spain, which owns Scottish Power - must show they are not raising prices in the UK to subsidise customers in other countries.
Criticism has also been levelled at the German government for failing to open its energy market to competition.
He was speaking at a press conference to announce the name of a new 'super-watchdog', Consumer Focus, which will replace the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch.
EDF, like the other 'big six' power suppliers, has a series of tariffs linked to the amount of gas that customers use.
It has increased the charge for 132,000 low users by up to 75 per cent - taking the charges up from 3.984p per kilowatt hour to 7p. A low-user customer who perhaps only has gas for a cooker will see the annual bill rise from £106.77 a year to £187.60.
EDF customer Philip Williams, 69, who lives alone in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, said: 'I couldn't believe it when I got the bill and found the price had gone up by 75 per cent, not 22 per cent as we were told. I've had no notice that it would go up this much.
'During the winter months my bills will go through the roof.'
Consumer group Energywatch said: 'The message this sends out is that people who try to be careful and cut down on their use of gas end up getting penalised with bigger increases in bills than everyone else.
'All the evidence is that energy companies are disregarding the needs of their most vulnerable customers.'
LibDem energy spokesman Steve Webb suggested firms such as EDF may try to boost profits in Britain to counter price caps in their home countries.
'EDF will have to make up the shortfall somehow,' he said. 'They may have to look to customers in Britain.'
The 'big six' power suppliers also charge more than 3.5million customers who have prepayment meters around £150 a year more for their heat and light compared with those who pay via direct debit.
These firms offer social tariffs which are supposed to cut the bills of the estimated 4.5million households which are in fuel poverty.
However, the deals are wrapped in small print with the result that only a tiny fraction of eligible households are signed up.
A spokesman for EDF denied UK customers will subsidise those in France. He said both are standalone profitable businesses.
He added: 'EDF Energy has always taken its responsibility to vulnerable customers very seriously and has gone far beyond regulatory obligations to support customers struggling to pay energy bills and to keep warm.'
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23528800-details/%27Pickpocket%27+foreign+fuel+giants+accused+of+ripping+off+Britons+to+keep+energy+bills+down+at+home/article.do
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