State Pensions: Canada Free Trade Agreement
Debate between Baroness Seccombe and Viscount Younger of Leckie(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
The rate of contribution paid has never earned entitlement to indexation of pensions payable abroad. This reflects the fact that the UK scheme is designed primarily for those living in the UK. In drawing up expenditure plans for pensioner benefits, the Government believe that their responsibility is primarily towards pensioners living in this country. The UK’s current social security arrangements with Canada provide for individuals coming to the UK to use periods of residence in Canada for the purposes of entitlement to the UK state pension as well as certain other benefits.
Baroness Seccombe (Con)
My Lords, will my noble friend the Minister tell the House that we do fulfil our legal obligations to our overseas pensioners?
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
Yes, I can certainly give some reassurance on that to my noble friend. She may know that the policy has been challenged in the courts, and the Government’s long-standing position has been upheld by the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords in 2005, as well as the European Court of Human Rights in 2008, following a further challenge.
Food Banks
Debate between Baroness Seccombe and Viscount Younger of Leckie
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
It is not okay. It is fair to say that we are continually looking at different ways in which we can help the most vulnerable, and I have set out some of them to the House this afternoon. On food banks, which are linked to the noble Baroness’s question, as I said, the family resources survey will help us; it is important for us to know what is going on. Let me also take this opportunity to applaud all those volunteers who work in food banks; they are doing vital work to help feed those who simply do not know where their next meal is coming from.
Baroness Seccombe (Con)
My Lords, in the past three weeks, whether in the newspaper, on TV or even in our own homes, food has seemed to dominate. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me whether anybody or any group in food production can assist those who, for whatever reason, seem unable to provide food for their own table?
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
As I said earlier, food banks are doing a magnificent job at the moment in these very difficult times. Defra is continuing to work with food retailers and producers to explore a range of measures that they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food—for example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price-freezing measures. It might be worth pointing out—some noble Lords will know this from going into supermarkets—that Asda, for example, has launched a scheme called Just Essentials, which gives customers access to a much larger range of good-quality products at the lowest prices, and Morrisons has a Help for Households scheme. Supermarkets are doing their very best to step in and lower their prices for those who are most vulnerable.
Student Loans
Debate between Baroness Seccombe and Viscount Younger of Leckie
Viscount Younger of Leckie
When the Office for Students is up and running from January, that is one of the issues we will look at. It is very important that students get the best experience at universities, and are given the best advice. The noble Viscount makes a good point—that issue is equally important in giving them advice on financing their course costs.
Baroness Seccombe (Con)
My Lords, in 1947 my brother and my husband went up to Oxford to read law, and my brother became a High Court judge while my husband became senior partner of his practice. Those degrees were hard fought; they played sport in every section, and I hope that the Minister will agree with me that that was damn good value for money.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
My noble friend, who is referring to degrees that were shorter than today’s degrees, is right. That is one reason why this House was very keen to promote the idea of accelerated degrees, which we are consulting on, whereby they are undertaken in two years at less cost per year than they would cost in three years.