Pensioner Benefits

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 31 March 2008.

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Photo of Nigel Waterson Nigel Waterson Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions 2:30, 31 March 2008

Any measures to boost take-up of benefits are welcome and long overdue, but has the Minister made any estimate of the number of pensioners who are forced to use their winter fuel allowance to pay soaring council tax and utility bills and to pay for basic foodstuffs? Is he not ashamed that the latest EU figures show that Britain is fourth from the bottom of the poverty league, so that only pensioners in Spain, Latvia and Cyprus are more likely to fall into poverty?