Pensions: Retirement Abroad

House of Lords written question – answered at on 26 July 2007.

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Photo of Lord Jones of Cheltenham Lord Jones of Cheltenham Liberal Democrat

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What would be the cost of abolishing the frozen pensions regulations for United Kingdom citizens who have retired to the Falkland Islands and Dependencies; and

Whether they will abolish the frozen pensions regulations for United Kingdom citizens who have retired to the Falkland Islands and Dependencies; and what would be (a) the economic, and (b) the political implications of abolishing the regulations.

Photo of Lord McKenzie of Luton Lord McKenzie of Luton Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions) (also in the Department for Communities and Local Government)

We have no plans to change the arrangements to uprate state pension for recipients residing in the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. It would not be appropriate to single them out and be faced with the possibility of a legal challenge for adopting different uprating policies in countries where the pension is currently frozen.

The sample of data relating to pensioners in the Falkland Islands and Dependencies is too small to make an accurate assessment of the cost of unfreezing their entitlement. However, the current estimate is that it would cost around £440 million in 2007-08 to bring all frozen-rate pensions up to the current rate, and this would be an ongoing cost increasing year on year.

Data Source: September 2006 administrative data, 5 per cent sample.

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Annotations

James nelson
Posted on 27 Jul 2007 11:23 pm (Report this annotation)

Why then is it appropriate to single out pensioners living in Australia for freezing of their pensions while pensioners living in the USA have full indexation? Is it because of the difference between AUS and USA? Just rearrange the letters?