Clause 6 - Duty to specify assessed income period
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Mr Ian McCartney (Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions; Makerfield, Labour)
The hon. Lady makes a good point. I can assure her that when we design all the materials that the Pension Service will send out, we will sit down with pensioner groups from the beginning and agree the design, content and language. We have a group that already does that, and because of many of the changes that have already taken place, the materials that we have produced are quantifiably better than in the past—irrespective of the party in Government; this is not a partisan point. That has happened because we have put a new system in place.
I would be happy to write to the hon. Lady and the rest of the Committee, but the process is simple. The statement will set out the entitlement, the guarantee and the credit, how the figures have been established, what payment arrangements are in place, and what the bottom line is. It will also include clear points of information about the simple easy way to gain access to the new Pension Service.
Any materials produced by the Pension Service, for whatever reason, must be compatible with older people's organisations and language. It is also important to remember people whose first language is not English, and those who have disabilities such as visual impairment, and to produce materials that are accordingly sensitive. They must not lose out or receive a service that is any less first class than those without disabilities receive. The hon. Lady's point is well made and will be taken into account when we produce materials for the Pension Service that will help pensioners with their relationship with the Department. I hope that now that I have made those remarks, we can agree to the clause.
I shall make one final point, so that later we can have some continuity with the comments of the hon. Member for Northavon. Under his proposals on state pensions, 80 per cent. of pensioners will still qualify for the minimum income guarantee through a means test. I look forward to further discussion on that subject, and I ask hon. Members to support clause 6.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.