Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "we believe that all pensioners should share fairly in the increasing prosperity of the nation", whether they intend to uprate the state pension in line with GDP; or, if not, what else they mean by "share fairly".
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThere are many ways in which pensioners can share in rising national prosperity—through contributory pension entitlements, through other benefits, or through the income derived from savings.
We will retain the basic state pension as the foundation of pension provision and increase its value at least in line with prices.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State will shortly be announcing details of a review of the central areas of insecurity for elderly people. All aspects of the basic pension and its value will be included in our review. We believe that it should provide the foundation of security in retirement. Our priority is to get help to Britain's poorest pensioners and we are commissioning research into why around a million pensioners fail to claim the income support to which they are entitled.