UK Budget offers some relief but falls short for older people

Age Scotland has welcomed measures in the UK Budget which will provide some help with energy costs and protect State Pension income, but says the overall package falls short of the substantial, long-term action needed to improve financial security in later life.

Among the measures announced is a £100 energy payment for households in council tax bands A-D. The UK Government is making funding available to the Scottish Govenment to provide equivalent support.

Age Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to go further by ensuring that everyone receiving Pension Credit is eligible, regardless of their council tax band.

The Budget also included measures to prevent pensioners with incomes up to the full value of the new State Pension being brought into income tax as the pension rises, as well as an extension of the VAT cut on electricity bills and changes to gas standing charges.

Age Scotland’s chief executive, Katherine Crawford, said:

“There are measures in today’s Budget which will provide some welcome relief for older people facing another expensive winter, but taken together they fall short of the more substantial action needed to improve financial security in later life.

“The £100 energy payment will be valuable help for households struggling with rising bills. We now want the Scottish Government to use the funding it receives to provide equivalent support in Scotland, while going further to ensure everyone receiving Pension Credit qualifies, regardless of their council tax band.

“Pension Credit is specifically targeted at people on low incomes, and they should not miss out simply because of the band their home happens to be in. The Scottish Government has agreed to this approach in the past, so it would be right to do so again.

“It is also right that pensioners who have incomes up to the full value of the new State Pension won’t be dragged into paying fiddly amounts of income tax simply because it rises above the tax threshold. But raising the personal allowance for everyone would have been a fairer and more straightforward response.

“Extending the VAT cut on electricity bills will help, as will the removal of gas standing charges for many of the households who use it. But large numbers of older households use higher than average amounts of gas and won’t feel this relief.

“These measures offer some breathing space, but overall the Budget feels piecemeal. With household costs still putting enormous pressure on people, we needed to see bigger, longer-term and more ambitious measures to strengthen the financial security of older people and those living on the lowest incomes.”