Pensioners Cost of Living 2024-05-13
2024-05-13
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
The question arises from concerns over the adequacy of support provided to pensioners facing increased costs.
What recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of support for pensioners with increases in the cost of living?
The Government have provided total support of over £108 billion to help households and individuals with higher bills. The basic state pension has gone up by 8.5% this year.
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Assessment & feedback
Specific assessment on adequacy of support for pensioners was not addressed, only general financial aid figures given.
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
A poll indicates that two thirds of people think the government should urgently pay fair compensation to WASPI women, who were affected by changes in state pension age. The parliamentary ombudsman's report has been pending.
But a new poll today shows that two thirds of people think the Government should urgently pay fair compensation to all WASPI women, including many in east Leeds, who were hit by the change to the state pension age. It has been over six weeks since the Secretary of State got the parliamentary ombudsman's final report, but nearly three years since the ombudsman said that the Department for Work and Pensions had committed maladministration through its failure to properly inform affected women of the state pension age changes. With a WASPI woman dying every 13 minutes, time is not on their side. When will the Government stop dragging their feet? To help ensure justice, will the Government allow MPs to vote on a compensation package before the summer?
The hon. Gentleman has heard the Secretary of State reply at great length to a number of questions on that subject today. We are looking carefully at the report and considering what is a very complex set of recommendations and proposals to make sure that we do the right thing.
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Assessment & feedback
Commitment to action or timeline for compensation was not provided, only acknowledgment of review process.
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
Concerns about pensioners turning to food banks due to financial difficulties are raised. The UK devotes a smaller percentage of GDP to state pensions compared to other advanced economies.
Ministers certainly seem to prefer the comfort of their own massaged figures to facts. The Trussell Trust, however, says it has seen a 36% rise in pensioners turning to food banks in the past six months, and that is likely to increase. The hard fact is that the UK devotes a smaller percentage of GDP to state pensions and pensioner benefits than most other advanced economies. When will they take pensioner poverty seriously and fix this scandal?
The households below average income statistics, which are cleared by the Office for National Statistics, show that 1% of low-income pensioners live in a household that has accessed a food bank within 12 months. Given all the effort we are putting into the ongoing campaign to increase access to pension credit and the success that campaign is having, I am very confident that we will make continued progress in reducing pensioner poverty.
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Assessment & feedback
Specific plan or timeline for addressing pensioner poverty was not provided, only general effort mentioned.
Response accuracy