Seeing Red is my regular column in The Isle of Thanet News. This opinion piece was first published on 12 October 2024.
I could perhaps rename this column — under the circumstances — sticking my neck out, which might be more appropriate…
The removal of the Winter Fuel Payment has caused quite a stir. Even before the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment, Marie Curie estimated 68,000 retirees die in poverty each year.
Some say wealthy pensioners don’t need a winter ‘bump,’ (and clearly some pensioners don’t need any additional financial assistance), some agree with means testing. Others, like myself, believe that is an expensive and often a demeaning process. Others conclude the statutory pension needs to be revised to an amount that pensioners can actually live on, given that’s it’s one of lowest rates in Europe.
Pension rates do need to be raised to a decent level to lift retirees out of poverty. I certainly think it could be more generous, meaning in most circumstances, no ‘top-up’ benefits would need to be claimed. That’s my favoured solution, but obviously it would cost the taxpayer more and an increase of that type isn’t currently up for debate, especially with the dire state of public finances.
The state of the public purse certainly has to be dealt with. PM Sir Kier Starmer has been left with an absolute pile of excrement to deal with — left by the Tories who threw public funds — our tax contributions – around like confetti. Lining pockets as they did so. There’s no doubt about that.
The question is how we rebuild the UK economy. And how do we do that with sensitivity and compassion. Compassion for those who have frankly already been through enough. A lot of the pensioners I meet as your Kent County Councillor are struggling. Really struggling and on many levels. To be frank some are managing to survive, but little else. They aren’t having a great time. Their ‘third age’ isn’t easy. Their twilight years have become exhausting and, for some, confusing, complex and sadly frightening.
Many local pensioners are doing their best to manage, often in queues for health treatment, waiting anxiously for many months for appointments which, ideally, would be delivered more quickly.
I’m dealing with cases where these delays create additional illness… I do however see slight green shoots of improvement recently and I know NHS and social care staff are doing their best.
Other older people are struggling to afford additional care at home; whether that’s personal care or household help, both are expensive and thin on the ground. Age UK is a great source of help but it charges around £25 per hour (for that you are purchasing a professional and safe service). Home help services | Age UK
Nonetheless, very many aren’t getting the support they require, they are still receiving 15-minutes care visits, during which time, personal care, medication and the provision of food is all supposed to be provided. Frankly that isn’t possible! It’s also an extremely dubious practice, especially as the NICE state 30-minute slots are better, statutory guidance under the Care Act 2014, the guidance clearly states ‘15-minute visits are not appropriate for the delivery of intimate care but may be for safety or medication checks, or if they are chosen by the person.’ Councils must follow the statutory guidance. I’ll be raising this with KCC.
Consider also the fragmentation of all kinds of services to older people. We have a patchwork of provision. If an elderly person has a problem often they don’t know who to contact. A baffling array of services signpost them hither and thither – I’ve seen this first hand- and direct them to websites which quite often exacerbates stress. Anyone who has supported an older family member or neighbour knows this to be true. And somehow everything now needs to be done online doesn’t it? Care needs to be taken with this ‘one size fits all’ assumption. Many people are simply not tech savvy. Indeed, even people with reasonable digital skills experience frustration! Can you remember all your passwords? No—me neither!
Apparently, there are 243 questions on the application for pension top up, however you can call 0800 99 1234 and a helpful Department of Work and Pensions person, will fill it in over the phone. Many of the questions can be skipped through quickly. You can also check or apply for your pension credit by following this link, Pension Credit: How to claim – GOV.UK (See, yet another link to a website!)
Cold kills, and it’s starting to get cold. Figures released in response to a parliamentary question to the Department of Health on behalf of NHS England revealed a 40% increase in the number of over-65s being admitted to hospital for cold weather-related illnesses over the past five years.
Last year 754 pensioners were treated for “exposure to excessive natural cold”. I wonder how Thanet fares in these figures given that we have the most older people in Kent? Age UK says ‘over the last ten years a shocking quarter of a million older people have died from the cold –1 older person every 7 minutes and at the root of this problem are cold, poorly insulated homes.’
End Fuel Poverty has a lot more research – the figures, I warn you are shocking. 4,950 excess winter deaths caused by cold homes last winter.
It’s debatable, but the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment has undoubtedly cast our incoming Labour government in a poor light, our reputation is damaged. I’m prepared to accept that overall, pensioners might not be worse off as several MPs I spoke with at Labour Party conference reassured me. Even so I deplore this misstep. We need to do better than this.
Like you I imagine, I await the October budget to see if those with broader shoulders will carry a fairer share of the tax burden. Meanwhile let’s protect as many of our elderly as we can by ensuring their pension status is checked.