"Short-term relief for some older people but government ducks big challenges" - Age Concern and Help the Aged's response to the 2010 Budget.

In response to the Budget‚ Michelle Mitchell‚ Charity Director for Age Concern and Help the Aged‚ said:

On older workers

“It beggar’s belief that the government has announced yet another consultation on the default retirement age. This is an acutely ageist and counter-intuitive policy which has stamped an expiry date on hundreds of thousands of older workers. All of the political parties should commit to scrapping the default retirement age in their election manifestos.

“Reducing the number of hours to qualify for Working Tax Credit will bring welcome help for a few thousand older workers. But with increasing numbers of older people trapped in long-term unemployment‚ the Government must do much more to avoid creating a ‘lost generation’ of older workers shut out of the job market and more dependent on state benefits in retirement.”

On the Winter Fuel Payment and state pension

“News that the Winter Fuel Payment won’t be cut this year is very welcome. However a minimum increase of 2.5% per year in line with the Basic State Pension‚ and a promise to re-link the state pension to earnings by 2012‚ would have provided much more reassurance to the millions of pensioners struggling to manage on a measly pension. Many older people will be furious that additional elements of the state pension will remain frozen at current levels despite the cost of living heating up.”

On social care

“Freezing the inheritance tax threshold to pay for older people’s care adds up to a funding increase of £110 million by 2012/13 – a drop in the ocean compared to the £1.75 billion needed over the next two years to plug the social care funding gap. The government must promise to protect spending on older people’s care services or risk half a million frail older people being left without state support.”

On banks

“We are delighted by the announcement that a new universal service obligation will be introduced for banking‚ through basic bank accounts‚ and look forward to seeing the detailed proposals. The onus must now be on the banks to ensure that these accounts meet the needs of older people and on the government to ensure that all current accounts – not just basic bank accounts – are accessible through the Post Office.”
 
On annuities

“We are pleased that the Government is open to discussion about fairer rules on small pension pots. Currently people can end up with limited personal pension funds that are too small to annuitise yet cannot be drawn in cash without significant penalty.”