Pension Fact Sheets Introduction
Issued on behalf of British Age Pensioner Alliance, these Fact Sheets support the 20 year story of the fight for PARITY by 540,500 UK State Pensioners.  Why should they be deprived of annual indexation of their pensions because they live in certain countries while another 565,000,living in other countries, are not ?

Fact: There are about 12,163,500 British State Pensioners.

Fact: Of that number 95.68% (11,638,000) have their pensions indexed annually.

Fact: But just 4.32% (525,500) have their pensions locked in at the rate first paid, either when they emigrated to the British Commonwealth or a number of other disadvantaged countries or. having emigrated to such countries before pensionable age, as soon as they become entitled. That is, they have their State pensions frozen.

Fact: However 4.43% (538,500), who also emigrated, but to Europe, the USA or a number of other favoured countries, have their pensions indexed annually, just as if they had stayed in Britain.

Fact: This situation is perpetuated by means of the annual rubber stamping of a regulation in the Westminster Parliament. No change in the law would be required to rectify it, just a simple vote in Parliament to rescind that regulation. The removal of this pension anomaly would cost less than 1% of annual expenditure on the basic pension.

Fact: The State Pension is paid in accordance with the number of mandatory contributions to the National Insurance Fund made by British Workers between the age of 16 and retirement.

Fact: The National Insurance fund consists of the balance, over and above the cost of paying the State Pension.  Currently the National Insurance Fund balance stands at over 45 Billion Pounds and is increasing at the rate of about 9 Billion Pounds a year.

 

For more information, log on to the web site

http://www.britishpensions.org.au/

or email info@britishpensions.org.au