APPG disappointed at Commons Vote extending frozen pensions to Single Tier Pension legislation

February 7, 2016 Frozen Pensions 2 Comments

SI No 199Members of the APPG have expressed their disappointment that the House of Commons has voted to continue the freezing of overseas pensioners under the new Single Tier Pension legislation.

On 3 February 2016 the House of Commons approved a Statutory Instrument (SI), The State Pension and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations, which introduced the framework for the continued freezing of overseas pensioners under the new Single Tier Pension legislation (for new pensioners).

It also contained a measure relating to the uprating of people in frozen countries who want to defer receiving their state pensions under the new single tier system (the only group affected by this specific measure this year).

The SI was valiantly challenged at committee stage by APPG Vice Chair Ian Blackford MP, with support from the DUP.  But with limited time to mobilise support and against a government whip and Labour abstention, the vote was passed by 297 to 73.

Obviously this result is disappointing for members of the APPG, and no doubt other frozen pension campaigners.

There will however be a second SI – the Social Security Benefits Up-Rating Regulations 2016 – brought forward by the government in early March, which is the mechanism by which the government freezes the pensions of currently frozen pensioners for another year.

Unlike the measure voted on yesterday, this SI is however subject to negative procedure, which means that it needs to be actively annulled rather than simply rejected. As a result, it is considerably harder for MPs who are supportive of ending frozen pensions to secure a vote on it, due to the limited time made available for such matters.

Members of the APPG, are currently considering how they might secure a vote on this legislative measure.

 

The MPs who voted to reject the The State Pension and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations on 3 February were:

Conservative:

Peter  Bottomley

Roger Gale

Philip  Hollobone

Laurence Robertson

Labour:

Ronnie Campbell

Paul Flynn

Kate Hoey

Joseph (Alan) Meale

Barry  Sheerman

Dennis Skinner

SNP:

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh

Richard Arkless

Hannah Bardell

Mhairi Black

Ian  Blackford

Kirsty Blackman

Deidre Brock

Alan Brown

Joanna Cherry

Ronnie Cowan

Angela Crawley

Martin Docherty

Stuart  Donaldson

Marion Fellows

Magaret Ferrier

Stephen Gethins

Patricia Gibson

Patrick Grady

Peter Grant

Neil  Gray

Drew Hendry

Stewart Hosie

George Kerevan

Chris  Law

Callum McCaig

Stewart McDonald

Stuart  McDonald

Natalie McGarry

John McNally

Carol Monaghan

Paul Monaghan

Roger Mullin

Gavin Newlands

Brendan O’Hara

Kirsten Oswald

Steven Paterson

Tommy Sheppard

Chris Stephens

Alison Thewliss

Owen Thompson

Michelle Thomson

Mike Weir

Eilidh Whiteford

Corri Wilson

Pete Wishart

Anne McLaughlin

Lib Dem

John     Pugh

DUP:

Nigel Dodds

Gavin Robinson

Jim  Shannon

Thomas (David) Simpson

Sammy Wilson

SDLP

Mark Durkan

Alasdair McDonnell

Margaret Ritchie

Plaid Cymru

Jonathan Edwards

Liz Saville Roberts

Hywel Williams

UUP

Tom Elliott

Danny  Kinahan

Green

Caroline Lucas

Independent

Lady Sylvia Hermon

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Comments

  1. Spitfire
    March 26, 2016 - 2:34 pm

    I frequently wonder how this frozen pensions nastiness in selected countries first began. What kind of people dreamed this up?
    In anyone’s book denying a pensioner his pension rights after he/she, have contributed to their own pension is akin to theft. Theft just because some previous government decided it was a way to save money and an opportunity to cheat pensioners living overseas.
    Even more appalling, the fact that this theft has been allowed to continue for so long.So much for honesty and transparency. I trust that those who voted to continue the frozen pensions policy will not sleep easy.

  2. PossieJim
    April 15, 2016 - 12:04 pm

    One only has to read the conclusion of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Frozen Pensions circa 1996/7 to realise that even at that time there were many MPs embarrassed by this disgraceful political practice;- That this UK pension regulation is unfair is undoubted. The Parliamentary Select Committee report of as long ago as 1996-7 states, “Britain was alone among the OECD countries in discriminating between pensioners in different overseas countries, rejecting any suggestion of compromise”. From the same report it continues, “Surely no-one would have deliberately designed a policy of paying pensions to people living abroad intending to end up in the position we are at today… A simple change in British law could enable up-ratings to be paid in any or all overseas countries, provided the political will was there to do so”. Any political will at that time, like now, was AWOL.

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