MPs demand better public information on single-tier pension

MPs also urged the ministers to make the pension more generous in order to encourage more people to save for their retirement.

11:34 07 April 2013

Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the single-tier scheme will be brought forward by a year to 2016. However, MPs believe that there isn’t enough public information about the looming shake up and worry that this will result to confusion.

There are already misconceptions as to who will gain or lose from the changes. Several people wrongly believed that the reform is designed to give everybody an automatic state pension of £144 per week because they did not understand the criteria for entitlement to the full amount.

Dame Anne Begg, the chairwoman of the committee, said: "Now that the implementation date has been brought forward to 2016, it is even more important that people receive understandable and accurate information as early as possible."

By starting the single-tier pension a year earlier than planned, 400,000 more people will qualify for the pension which include about 85,000 women who would have missed out because their state pension age was rising at the same time as the reform was being introduced.