Barrett slams broken pledge on pensions

Published on Saturday 22 December 2007 10:43

A CITY MP has accused the UK Government of breaking its promises after it ruled out a scheme to help women boost their pensions by making up for missed national insurance contributions.

An amendment to the Pensions Bill passed in the House of Lords earlier this year would have allowed people the chance to buy back up to nine years of NI contributions, but the Government has now signalled it will not accept the proposal.

John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, said: "The Government had pledged in July that it was likely to support a proposal allowing women to retrieve up to nine years of missed contributions, making up for years spent at home looking after children or relatives.

"Ministers have broken their promises and left many women who have contributed immeasurably to society with no chance of a full pension."

But the Department of Work and Pensions said the proposal was not well targeted. "Many of those who would gain are not women, but expatriates, many of them men on high incomes. Women on low incomes would not benefit at all from this proposal because their incomes are already guaranteed by pension credit."