Clause 1 - Entitlement
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
4:30 pm
Mr James Clappison (Hertsmere, Conservative)
I may use the word ''opaque'' in a slightly different context later in my contribution. However, the future cost of the pension is important for the reasons that my hon. Friend mentioned and because organisations, interest groups and future pensioners need as much clarity as possible on the subject. That lies at the heart of the modest amendment, which would enable the Government to throw more light on the matter to satisfy bodies, such as the Select Committee, that are not completely happy.
As the Minister will know, many interest groups and organisations that gave evidence to the Select Committee were worried about take-up. Two of the many organisations were Age Concern and Help the Aged. Help the Aged said that
''benefit take-up is extremely important for a number of reasons.''
Although I shall not go into all the reasons that Help the Aged set out, two are particular salient to our debate. First, it said:
''older people are less likely to be receiving the benefits they are entitled to than people of working age. This is particularly so for Income Support . . . where pensioners are much less likely to be claiming their entitlements than younger people''.
That relates to lack of take-up by older people. It continued:
''worse, the proportion of older people who are entitled but not claiming has been increasing in recent years. Older people are now less likely to be claiming their entitlements than they were when Labour came to power''.
I am sure that that worries all members of the Committee—it certainly worries Help the Aged.