Lib Dems Challenge Government on Fairness and Security for Older People
September 11, 2003 12:00 AM
Pensioners and older people were the subject of an 'opposition day' debate in the House of Commons initiated by the Liberal Democrats yesterday.
The Liberal Democrats called the debate because they believe that this Government has failed to deliver fairness and security for older people in this country. Many older people today feel cheated by this government - cheated out of their life savings to pay for their care, cheated out of a decent pension and cheated out of a reasonable standard of living by an unfair and ever rising council tax.
The Lib Dem Spokesman for Older People, Paul Burstow, outlined the crisis in the care system as care homes close their doors, and tens of thousands of care home places are lost. Also worrying is that growing numbers of older people are getting stuck in hospitals when they are ready to go to a care home. Some are forced to sell their homes, ultimately to pay for their long-term care.
Professor Steve Webb, Lib Dem spokesman for Work and Pensions challenged the government on the dire situation facing many pensioners across the country. For many pensioners who have made contributions their whole working life, the basic pension and the state second pension will still leave them so poor, they will need to apply for means-tested support.
The National Pensioners Convention lobbied Parliament yesterday to highlight the concerns of hundreds of thousands of pensioners many of whom face a future of poverty - exacerbated particularly by the unfairness of the system of council tax which hits those on fixed incomes especially hard.
Cllr. Fred Drane from Upton lobbied MP Annette Brooke bringing a petition from pensioners in Dorset. Dressed to make a big impression, wearing a Texan hat, Cllr. Drane carried a board stating:
"I am not a rich Texan, I am a poor Dorset pensioner. 2.5% increase for pensions, 25% increase for MP's pensions, 24.5% Council Tax increase. Government policy - Sorry, we don't understand. Have we got it wrong?"
Local MP for Mid Dorset and Wareham, Annette Brooke spoke up in the debate to raise the issue of unfair council taxes across the country, saying:
"What concerns pensioners particularly is that while the state pension is the same throughout the country, council tax levels can differ from mile to mile by hundreds of pounds."
While the government continued to deny that its policies were having an adverse effect on pensioners and older people requiring care, the facts speak for themselves.
The Department of Health's own statistics show that there has been a 23% increase in the numbers of elderly people over the age of 75 returning to hospital within less than 28 days of being sent home, as over almost a quarter of home care places have been axed in this country since 1997.
Pension credit, a means-tested benefit, has been introduced to help the poorest pensioners, introducing more confusion and complication in receiving a 'means-tested' benefit. The government knows that extra form filling and means-testing only lowers the uptake of state benefits and already anticipates an uptake of 2.8 million, against the estimated 3.8 million pensioners who are eligible.
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