Pension

This article explains how the majority of older people are unaware of their entitlement to Pension Credit – which serves as a top-up to the state pension and, for most, provides a vital source of income.

It continues: “Almost half of pensioners surveyed were struggling to make ends meet and that despite nine in 10 being aware that Pension Credit exists, eight in 10 who are eligible are not claiming because they do not think that they qualify.”

A couple of years ago I ran a story on the former Caradon District Council’s Pension Benefit work which had generated £1 million of extra resources for the elderly, most of which had gone into the purchase of goods and services in their market towns by their elderly residents.

It seems a national scandal to me that whilst the tax man can squeeze every penny out of us no-one has come up with a means of ensuring the elderly get all the benefits they are entitled to.

In rural England our demographic profile means that if this was achieved a number of key challenges could be reduced at a stroke from fuel poverty to the creation of further support for local village shops and pubs.

I still have the Caradon stuff in some detail and if you would like to have a go at what they achieved let me know – I will send it to you.