The state pension age will rise from 65 to 68 by 2046, if the bill passes.

In return for a later pension age, the link between the state pension and average earnings is to be restored during the next .

In addition, it should take fewer years of National Insurance Contributions to earn a full state pension, a move aimed at helping women.

The government said it wanted an: “Enduring pension settlement built on a consensus” and a “state system more generous and more widely available and provide a solid foundation on which to save for retirement.”

Reforms

The Pension Bill is based on three-year study into the UK pensions crisis by the now defunct government Pensions Commission.

The commission, under Lord Turner, recommended several reforms, with the following finding their way into the Pensions Bill:

• Gradually increase the state pension age for men and women from 65 to 68 by 2046
• Establish a system of Personal Accounts, which would see employers, employees and the government all contributing. The aim is to boost savings levels
• Restore the state pension earnings link. This would see state pension rise in line with average earnings rather than inflation
• Simplify the second state pension system and end contracting out into personal pensions schemes

Boost for women

Women may have most to cheer from the Pensions Bill.

At present, many of them miss out on full state pension because they fall short of the to make 39 years-worth of National Insurance Contributions.

Often women take time out of the workforce to look after children or relatives.

State pension age rise State pension age will rise from 65 to 66 between 2024 and 2026 Rises from 66 to 67 between 2034 and 2036 Rises from 67 to 68 between 2044 and 2046

The government wants to cut the number of years it takes to qualify for a full state pension to 30.

It estimates that taking this step will mean that by 2025 nine out of 10 women will qualify for a full state pension.

Overall the government said it wants the Pension Bill to improve: “Fairness between generation and helping secure the long term financial stability and of the pension system”

Decisions pending

The Pensions Bill will not name a definitive date for the restoration of the state pension earnings link.

Instead the government has committed to restoring the link during the life of the next parliament.

But restoring the earnings link would effectively double the value of the state pension by 2050, the government added.

As for the system of Personal Accounts, the full details - such as who will run it, the government or insurers - are yet to be settled. But the bill if passed would see the setting up of a “delivery authority” for the Personal Accounts system.

The BBC has been told that the government intends to publish details of its plans for Personal Accounts in early December.

A Labour MP has condemned delays at the National Pension Centre which have left tens of thousands of retired people waiting for their correct state pension.

The problems affect widowed and divorced people whose pensions should be boosted by the National Insurance paid by their spouse.

But delays in doing the complex s at the National Pension Centre in Newcastle have led to a backlog which had grown to more than 36,000 by the end of 2003.

It is not acceptable to have delays where pensioners are bereaved, or where their relationships break down Labour MP Jim Cousins

Labour MP Jim Cousins, who represents the Newcastle where the National Pension Centre is located, told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme:

“The basic state pension is the foundation of all income in retirement.

“It is not acceptable to have delays where pensioners are bereaved, or where their relationships break down, or where there is a need to calculate a entitlement to the basic state pension.

“These things must be got right.”

Complex calculations

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledges that the problems affect mainly women who are divorced or widowed.

At the end of December, new pension claims from nearly 16,000 recently retired, divorced or widowed people were stuck in a queue while officials worked out what they were due.

If there is a problem paying a pension they should be making interim payments Sally West, Age Concern

The calculation is not straightforward because it depends on two sets of National Insurance contributions, those paid by the pensioner and those paid by their spouse.

The DWP also revealed that another 20,000 people were waiting for their pension to be recalculated after the death of their spouse. The total number waiting is now six times what it was three years ago.

A spokesman said the delays were due to “a general increase in casework”, and said that since the end of 2003 more staff had been hired and the delays have now been reduced.

But he confirmed that 13,000 people are still waiting for their pensions and nearly 17,000 have not had the correct pension increase.

He promised things would be back to normal “by the Summer time”.

Recently bereaved

These assurances were not enough for Sally West, Income Policy Officer with the charity Age Concern. She told the programme:

“It is completely unacceptable. It will often be a bereaved woman and if you are recently bereaved the last thing you want to worry about is your pension.”

She said a straightforward claim should be paid within 60 days and as people can claim four months before they reach pension age the money should normally arrive on time.

And she encouraged people to take action if they were left without their pension.

“If there is a problem paying a pension they should be making interim payments.

“So, if you are getting little or nothing, get an interim payment. You can also ask for compensation for losses incurred because of not getting the pension sorted out in time.”

BBC Radio 4’s Money Box was broadcast on Saturday, 21 February, 2004 at 1204 GMT.

The programme was repeated on Sunday, 22 February, 2004 at 2102 BST.

On Monday around 600 people queued to try to get on the books of a dentist who said he was taking on 300 patients at his Brynteg Surgery in .

Numbered tickets were issued to the first 300 in the queue and the rest were turned away.

Now the police have been called in after staff at the surgery received abusive calls from disgruntled would-be patients.

The problem is by no means isolated to rural west Wales, as similar scenes have been played around elsewhere in the UK.

There are calls for more to be done to attract dentists from the private sector but many practitioners feel they are “overworked and underpaid” in the NHS.

So what’s the solution?

Should everyone have the choice of treatment by an NHS dentist?

Moved house, phoned NHS direct - no NHS or private dentists taking children or adult patients in my area. Finally after a year local NHS dentist said they would take us only if we paid 40 registration fee, that included paying for my children. Having paid all National Insurance contributions,taxes etc. if the NHS was Marks and Spencers would we all be asking for a refund?
Heather, UK

I pay taxes - lots of taxes under this government. I pay National Insurance - just increased by this government. I therefore pay for the health service. Ergo I’m entitled to an NHS dentist. Or rather I’m not, apparently. How does that work then?If I’m being forced to pay for something I’m ultimately being denied, isn’t that extortion?
Chris, England.

I have recently moved to a new area and went in search of a dentist. I have been told that I will have to join a 3 month waiting list and it’s going to cost me 50 for a check up. I think I’ll wait for the tooth ache.
Toby Josham, UK

I think that its people are having difficulties finding NHS dentists! What’s happened to the welfare state? It was supposedly for all, it seems dentists are only catering for the well heeled who can afford private charges.
Antony Forst, England

Labour keep saying that they will plough more of our tax and NI money into health. It time for them to put our money where our mouths are! CJ Hendrick, UK

I have just three small letters to add to the debate. NIC (National Insurance contributions). Enough said, in my opinion.


Max,
UK

Where did these 600 people come from, if they’d kept up their regular check ups surely they would have been registered with an NHS dentist already, or would have had good teeth and be able to go to Denplan with their dentist without having to pay the earth.


Steve Jones,
N Wales

It is the National Health Service, which means it should be national. I left the RAF 9 years ago and have failed to register with an NHS dentist in all that time. Labour, if I recall, promised that everyone in the UK would have access to an NHS dentist. NI payments have gone up but the quality (and quantity) of service has seriously reduced.

The reign of Elizabeth II will be remembered for the people having the teeth of Elizabeth I. Many are unable to afford a visit to a private dentist. Teeth will rot. They will be unable to take out insurance because the insurance Co insist that a full check-up is carried out and all work is completed before the insurance policy can be started. Is this a new angle on political spin?
Jason, UK

My understanding of the British health system is that it was designed to allow anyone, even the poorest, to receive dental and medical treatment, regardless of income. While this may be the spirit of the NHS, I believe that the government simply hasn’t got the funding to provide for everyone. Perhaps a cut-off on income level would force more well-off people to go private, freeing up slots for those who simply cannot afford to go private.
Beth, American in Britain

In a statement the union, Prospect, blamed the move on “needless penny pinching” and denounced the proposed cuts as a “kneejerk reaction”.

The National Trust is the country’s largest non-government landowner and employs almost 4,000 full-time staff.

It said savings were needed to meet rising costs and hoped the cuts would be made by voluntary .

We have yet to see any evidence that these cuts are needed Helen Stevens Prospect

The Trust, a registered charity, owns more than 248,000 hectares (612,000 acres) of British and almost 600 miles of coastline.

It also runs 200 historical houses and 49 monuments and mills.

Regional losses

Prospect said offices in London, Swindon, Cirencester, Devon and Cornwall, East England, East Midlands, Northern Ireland, the North West, South East, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the North East were at risk of redundancies.

It said the Trust was facing a short-term financial shortfall after conducting a review of its internal , buying new information technology and funding its major projects.

The union’s negotiator, Helen Stevens, said: “This is a shocking decision. It is a major blow to the National Trust and will wipe out around 5% of its total workforce.

The Trust says all profits go back into the company

“Losses of this scale will make it almost impossible to avoid compulsory redundancies.

“We have yet to see any evidence that these cuts are needed or that it is more than a knee-jerk reaction by the Trust’s over-cautious trustees.”

She said the Trust could have made the necessary savings without culling jobs if it had waited for efficiency savings to start feeding through.

She added: “It makes no sense to lose the lifeblood of the Trust. This is more like selling the family than the silver.”

A Trust spokesman said the organisation was facing rising costs, increased National Insurance contributions and increased pension payments. It also wanted to increase its operational fund to 20 million. About 50 jobs have already been earmarked through voluntary redundancy and natural wastage, the spokesman added, insisting: “This is about safeguarding our conservation for the future.”