The UK State Pension

[maxsan]

Recently, I saw a letter in the local english newspaper which suggested that the UK governement were considering a residency status as opposed to the present contributory status, in respect of who would be entitled to the State pension.  Slightly alarmed I wrote to the minister and rec'd this reply.  I followed the link and it seems that one of the governement proposals is this idea of residency status.  Obviously at this stage one does not know whether this would be for new retirees many years hence and existing pensions would be protected.  I have copied the letter for your comments.

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Dear sir.

 

Thank you for your email of 23 June to Ministers at this Department about suggestions that we are planning to introduce a residency qualification for the State Pension. I have been asked to reply. I am sorry that the Minister of State for Pensions Reform has not been able to reply to you personally, but I hope you will understand that the receives a great deal of correspondence on a variety of subjects and it is not possible for him to reply to each letter individually.

 

A number of commentators have come forward with suggestions for reforming the State Pension system, including the option of a more universal scheme, perhaps based on residency. I should emphasise that no decisions have been taken. However, we welcome the fact that people are putting forward suggestions and we want to engage with them seriously because they are crucial to stimulating debate on the issue of retirement incomes.

 

Principles for Reform: The National Pensions Debate, published on 24 February, set out the Government’s guiding principles on which further work would be taken forward. In publishing this document, the Government committed Ministers to engaging with the wider public, key stakeholders and others, in seeking to build agreement for a long-term solution to the issue of adequate provision of income in retirement.

 

On 9 June, David Blunkett launched the National Pensions Debate in London. Subsequently, along with other Ministers, the issues were discussed and debated with members of the public and professionals at a variety of events in Greater Manchester. This dialogue is crucial to help establish a consensus that will provide the stability, certainty and fairness that we all want to see in the pensions system. And we look forward to engaging with people at further structured events planned across the country.

 

You can participate in the National Pensions Debate via the Department’s new website at www.dwp.gov.uk/debate/.

 

You also refer to Departmental website’s requirement for a postcode. The reason we request a postcode is because we prefer to contact our customers by letter, where possible. However, I can assure you that people from abroad are not deterred from contacting us by email as we do receive a substantial amount of correspondence from abroad. I should also add that people do always have the option to write, if they so wish.

 

Yours sincerely