Clause 4 - Exclusions
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Mr Tim Boswell (Daventry, Conservative)
I think that the Minister of State is giving me an affirmative answer to that, but I will let him do that formally, because that is important.
I have tried, in my rather lay way, to describe the single benefit unit. Perhaps the Minister will tease that out further. We assume that there is such a thing, and that it is broadly a married couple or an unmarried couple, as it is described in the clause. Potentially, and increasingly in reality, both may be entitled to a state retirement pension. A couple who are not exactly the
same age who retire at, say, 65 in the case of the man, and, say, 62 in the case of the woman, may now find that they both have a retirement pension in their own right. Elsewhere, the Bill refers to a person or their partner reaching retirement age. The amendment is designed to pave a discussion and tease out rather more closely how the provision will apply and how the decision-maker will determine the matter in cases that are consensual and involve both parties and in which there is some tension or people simply like things their own way.
By definition, if one member of a couple is of pensionable age and the other is not, the one who is of pensionable age will be the only one in receipt of a state retirement pension, and the pension credit will hang on them. What happens when the second person reaches pensionable age and might also be entitled to a retirement pension? Clearly, there cannot be two pension credits. Is provision made for one to take over from the other, and if so, how will that be affected? Will it require a claim by the second party, or indeed, renunciation by the first? Will the initiative come from the Benefits Agency or the individual claimant? When they cannot decide how the matter is to be dealt with, how will the matter be decided and to whom will the credit be paid? Can arrangements be made for it to be split?
The amendment is intended not to invent a way of increasing the total credit but to deal with complexity. It is possible that both parties might have a full retirement pension and that either might be able to receive credit over and above that. The figures suggest a margin of leeway. I assume that all factors will be taken into account. How will such complicated issues be resolved? Above all, if one party has retired and the other party joins them, and if the assessment is likely to be better for the second party—if that is possible—how will that affect the overall credit? How would the Pension Service carry that into effect?