Clause 9 - Duration of assessed income period
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
4:30 pm
Mr Ian McCartney (Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions; Makerfield, Labour)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on knowing someone famous. I hope that I will be able to recount such a story one day.
The effect of the amendment is best illustrated by an example. If a pensioner goes to Spain for three months over the winter, his entitlement to pension credit ceases after four weeks and the claim is closed. Under our proposed rules, on his return, he would reclaim the pension credit, the income would be reassessed and a new assessed income period set. However the effect of the amendment would be to keep the original assessed income period running in the background when the claim closed, so that any remaining period would still apply on reclaiming. In effect, this is a taxi rank proposal, whereby the meter keeps running until the person comes back.