Weston pensioners worse off from April

12.00.00am GMT Mon 8th Mar 2010

Thousands of pensioners across Weston-super-Mare and North Somerset are facing a cut in their income from April.

Whilst the basic state pension of £92.25 a week will go up by 2.5 per cent, the Labour Government is holding back the increase to other parts of pensioners' income such as the State Earnings Related Pension (SERPS) and the State Second Pension.

This decision affects 9 million people across the UK and will hit the many thousands of pensioners living in North Somerset. In total the Government will withhold half a billion pounds from the nation's pensioners.

With inflation now at 3.5%, this Government plan means that the vast majority of pensioners will see a real terms cut in income from April.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare, said "I listened to the concerns of local pensioners at a meeting of the Weston Senior Citizens Forum last week. They are angry about the way they have been treated by this Government.

"The insulting 75p pension rise of a few years ago and the abolition of the 10p tax rate have not been forgotten.

"The pension system is so complex that many people do not realise that their pension is made up of several different parts. The basic pension is going up, albeit only by a couple of pounds a week, but the other parts of the pension are being frozen.

"After inflation is taken into account, many pensioners will have less money to spend from April that they have now. In total the government has withheld half a billion pounds from our pensioners - yet they were only too happy to give billions to the bankers.

"Pensioners need a fair deal - pensions linked to the cost of living."

The debate on this issue took place on Monday last week with the vote being deferred until Wednesday 3 March. Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the plans, but they were outvoted by Labour and Conservative MPs who supported the freeze.