Oral Answers to Questions

Christian Matheson Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment she has made of the effect of changes to the pension age on women born in the 1950s.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment she has made of the effect of changes to the pension age on women born in the 1950s.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson)]

The state pension age reform is focused on maintaining the right balance between sustainability of the state pension and fairness between generations in the face of demographic change. Without equalisation, women would be expected to spend an average of more than 40% of their adult lives receiving the state pension.

--- Later in debate ---

[Justin Tomlinson]

That is exactly why we have continued to deliver the triple lock. We recently announced a £3 billion uprating, and 80% of women reaching state pension age before 2030 will be better off by an average of £550 a year under the new arrangements.

[Christian Matheson]

Do the Government accept that the DWP’s communication strategy was well below standard, and many women found out about changes in their pensions only a year—or even a few months—before those changes were made?

[Justin Tomlinson]

That, too, is an issue that has been debated extensively in a number of Parliaments, and it has been encountered by Governments of all political persuasions. On our watch, we redoubled efforts to ensure that there was the maximum amount of communication so that people could make informed decisions.