Pensions: Britons Living Abroad Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Skelmersdale
Main Page: Lord Skelmersdale (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Lord Skelmersdale's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(13 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, would my noble friend accept that what matters when paying British pensions to pensioners in places such as Canada is reciprocity? In other words, if the Britons in Canada are paid the Canadian pension and the Canadian pensioners in this country are paid British pensions, that would be regarded as a fair deal. What discussions on reciprocity are going on at the moment between his department and overseas Governments?
My Lords, there are currently no discussions on reciprocity. That is not a strategy that we have. The reciprocity agreements are, if you like, a little like a double tax treaty network of agreements. We are not going into that at the moment. There are 30 countries with which we have reciprocal agreements, and currently we are not planning to expand that. However, this is a policy that we keep under review.