Labour is calling on the Tories to come clean on how many pensioners will be hit by their plans for a dementia tax and means testing for Winter Fuel Payments.

With six days to go until voting, Theresa May has still not ended the uncertainty facing millions of pensioners.

Tory plans to scrap universal Winter Fuel Payments could hit as many as 10.8 million pensioners, according to a Labour analysis of Pension Credit data.

Meanwhile, the Tories are still refusing to give a figure for the cap they will put on their dementia tax, the name given to their plan to force people to pay for social care with their homes.

An analysis by the Labour Party (see below) shows the effect of the Tory dementia tax on older people living in a house worth the average UK price of £217,500 if the cap is set at £72,000 or £100,000 and they find they need home care at the capped level.

At a cap of £100,000, a person in this situation needing the capped amount of care would lose 42 percent of the value of their estate. The more someone’s house is worth, the lower the percentage they would lose.

Labour has set out its pledges to older people – maintaining the triple-lock on state pensions to protect incomes, investing £37 billion into the NHS and £8 billion into social care over the next parliament and protecting Winter Fuel Payments and free bus passes.

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on this analysis, said:

“It is staggering that just six days from polling day millions of pensioners still don’t know what’s in store for them if they are unlucky enough to get dementia or any other condition that needs care in the home.

“The dementia tax is itself unfair but what’s made matters even worse is the way Theresa May announced a cap and then failed to say how much it would be.

“Alongside this, older people face the additional uncertainty of not knowing who will be eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment. The introduction of a means test could mean more than ten million people losing the payment.

“Theresa May’s Tories only offer to pensioners is insecurity and cuts. Labour will stand up for older people by maintaining the triple-lock on state pensions, investing £8 billion into social care over the next parliament and protecting winter fuel payments and free bus passes.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Winter Fuel Payments

The Conservative manifesto also includes a commitment to means test the Winter Fuel Payment which, if linked to Pension Credit, could remove the support to heat homes from ten million pensioners. But analysis by the Labour Party has found that even this could be an underestimate, as 40 percent of those eligible do not claim Pension Credit. This would leave a further 800,000 older people without support to heat their homes, bringing the total number losing out to 10,800,000.  

Resolution Foundation analysis of Conservative plans to means test the Winter Fuel Payment: http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/blog/death-taxes-the-conservative-manifesto-and-the-changing-politics-of-intergenerational-fairness/

DWP estimates of benefit take up, showing 40 percent of those eligible for Pension Credit do not claim: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/535362/ir-benefits-take-up-main-report-2014-15.pdf

Dementia Tax
A 75 year-old owner occupier with savings of £20,000, whose home is worth the UK average house price of £217,500 facing home care costs of £100,000.
Under the current system:   subject to income, would pay nothing towards their care costs
At a cap of £72,000:             would pay £72,000 – would use all their savings and have a 24 percent charge (£52,000) set against the value of their home
At a cap of £100,000:           would pay £100,000, the full cost of care

AVERAGE CARE COSTS: Analysis for the Dilnot Commission in 2010 found that 45 percent of 65 year olds could expect to spend (or have spent on them) more than £25,000 on care services, and 10 percent could expect to spend more than £100,000. Source: Dilnot Commission Report Vol 2: Evidence and Analysis http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130221130239/https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/carecommission/files/2011/07/Volume-II-Evidence-and-Analysis1.pdf

AVERAGE WEALTH OF OLDER PEOPLE: 34 percent of older people aged 70-79 have non-housing assets below £23,250 but assets including houses above £100,000. Source: IFS, based on English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, wave 7 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9243

HOUSE PRICES: Average House Price (Feb 2017) in the UK is £217,502 Source: Land Registry http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ukhpi

Thank you Mr President.

The United Kingdom welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2356 today.

Through this resolution, and our unity, we have sent a clear message to the DPRK regime; faced with a sustained pattern of reckless, belligerent behaviour from Pyongyang, we, this Council, will act. Repeated missile launches threaten our allies and partners in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the wider region.

With each and every launch and missile test, DPRK demonstrates a total disregard for international security. They put their destructive ambitions above the welfare of their own people. This simply cannot continue.

Multiple missiles have been fired this year alone. The regime’s actions and rhetoric shows clear intent to pursue its illegal weapons programme. We need to show that there are consequences, and that the whole of the international community stands in support of this Council in tackling this threat.

So for the third time in 18 months, this Council has had no choice but to take decisive action. Through this chapter 7 resolution, we will restrict the ability of key DPRK individuals and entities from assisting and financing the illegal weapons programmes, building on the analysis and recommendations from the UN Panel of Experts. We will blunt their ability to generate the revenue needed to prop up the regime’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Our signal is clear; we will not tolerate nor be distracted by DPRK’s wide range of cover activities that prop up their illegal programmes. The resolutions passed by this Council impose wide-ranging sanctions on DPRK and they have bite. Through them, tangible pressure is being brought to bear on a regime that has acted with impunity for far too long. Let me be clear, it is the DPRK that has a clear choice to make on the way forward – continue its destabilising, dangerous actions or change its behaviour and begin to build a future for its people.

Together, we the international community, must be steadfast when enforcing these new sanctions, as well as all previous measures adopted by this Council. All member states must do their part to fully implement the sanctions. We have a collective commitment to address DPRK’s behaviour; we must show our collective resolve to bring an end to these destabilising, illegal actions.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr President.

As this is our first public session in your Presidency, congratulations and very good luck. And I’d also like to thank Uruguay for its very efficient and very open Presidency last month.

I join others in thanking you, Special Representative Mindaoudou, for your briefing, for your tireless efforts over the last years and for your commitment to sustained peace. I also want to welcome you, Foreign Minister to the Council and we really look forward to hearing from you shortly.

We meet today at a significant moment for the Government and people of Cote d’Ivoire. By the end of the month the United Nations Operation in Cote d’Ivoire will close, after 13 years of service. In that time, Cote d’Ivoire has been transformed. A child born when the first UNOCI peacekeepers set foot in Cote d’Ivoire would’ve entered a world of uncertainty and insecurity; today they’re living in a country with real prospects, not just for peace, but for opportunity and prosperity.

I congratulate the Special Representative and all her team for all they have done to help make this a reality. UNOCI has been an exemplary operation; one that has enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Government and with civil society, and importantly, one that is now leaving harmoniously and at the right moment.

As their mission nears its end, we must never forget that such stability did not come without cost. One hundred and fifty military and civilian United Nations personnel have lost their lives in Cote d’Ivoire over the last 13 years. The legacy of their sacrifice, and of all their service, must be a sustained peace in Cote d’Ivoire.

With that in mind, I congratulate the Government for capitalising on the space that UNOCI has given them. The country now has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. We stand with you as you continue along this positive pathway, redoubling your efforts to ensure that all Ivoirians feel the benefits brought by peace through social development.

Progress in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr President, is not just limited to the economy. I also want to draw Council Members’ attention to the Secretary General’s recently published report on sexual violence in conflict – a topic that is of particular concern to the United Kingdom. With this report came the welcome news that the armed forces of Cote d’Ivoire had been de-listed.

That means that Cote d’Ivoire is now able to contribute to United Nations Peacekeeping missions, and it has recently sent a contingent to Mali. To move from a nation benefitting from a Peacekeeping Mission to one that now contributes to peacekeeping is yet another marker of success.

There can be no let up, Mr President; there are tests ahead for Cote d’Ivoire. The 2015 Presidential elections were peaceful, but of course UNOCI was present. The Presidential elections in 2020 and a smooth democratic transfer of power to a new President will be crucial to building a peaceful and prosperous future for Cote d’Ivoire. This needs continued efforts to build the independence, credibility and authority of the electoral commission over the next few years. The credibility and legitimacy of the institutions of government must continue to strengthen.

Mr President, as the recent unrest in the country illustrates, peace can be fragile if underlying issues are not resolved. I therefore encourage the Government of Cote d’Ivoire to make the most of this opportunity that they and the United Nations have worked so hard for.

In conclusion Mr President the story of Cote d’Ivoire is a positive one, with the end of a successful mission and an optimistic future for the country and its people. It’s also a positive story for the United Nations and specifically, for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. UNOCI shows how clear mandates, with a clear exit strategy, can create the space needed for the political process to progress. It is a model that we should seek to emulate elsewhere across the world. And I am delighted that this experience is something that Cote d’Ivoire will be able to share on a daily basis with this Council when it joins in 2018. Congratulations on your election this morning.

Thank you.

The Foreign Secretary said:

Britain and the international community have taken further action to address the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a new Resolution that extends sanctions against North Korea’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes to more individuals and organisations.

With this Resolution, the international community has sent a clear message. We are united against North Korea’s dangerous behaviour and its continuing disregard for international security. The UK calls on North Korea to return to the negotiating table and halt all activity that breaches UN Security Council resolutions. This is the only way to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Further information