Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Blackford Excerpts

Monday 1st February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP)]

2. What support his Department has made available to women born in the 1950s who are affected by recent changes in the age at which they become eligible for the state pension.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

7. What support his Department has made available to women born in the 1950s who are affected by recent changes in the age at which they become eligible for the state pension.

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

10. What recent representations he has received on the pension arrangements of women aged between 60 and 65.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Vara]

I remind the hon. Lady of the record issues we have achieved for female employees. We now have record female employment, at a rate of 69.1%, and there are more than 1 million more women in work since 2010. The number of older women in work is at a record high, with more than 100,000 more than last year. The people to whom the hon. Lady refers are all benefiting from the measures I have mentioned.

[Ian Blackford]

I hope the Minister will answer my question, given that he ignored the one asked by my colleague. Will he apologise formally for the utter shambles his Department has made of communicating the changes to the acceleration phase, as raised by Women Against State Pension Inequality, and for the inaccurate communication to pensioners regarding national insurance contributions? We learned over the weekend that the Government Gateway website is still showing that the pensionable age for women is 60. How does the Minister expect the House—and, indeed, the public—to have confidence in his Department’s ability, given that it has failed so spectacularly to communicate and to deliver fairness?

[Mr Vara]

The issue to which the hon. Gentleman refers is isolated and he should regard it as such. The matter has been corrected. It is about time that he took on board all the other arguments that have been raging about this particular issue, rather than a solitary, individual mistake on a website, which has been corrected.