The Single Tier Pension - Another Lib Dem Gain

Like our tax code, pension provision in the UK has grown in a piecemeal, ad hoc way. Problems in the system have been addressed as they come up with little notice taken of the effect on the overall system, and little care taken to prevent the system becoming over-bureaucratic. Indeed, given that many reforms originate with the bureaucrats, this has, perhaps, been part of the intention; whilst the political interventions have often fallen victim to the law of unintended consequences.

For some decades now, the state pension has had two elements - the Basic State Pension with entitlement based on the number of years of National Insurance Contributions made and a second tier: first GMP, then the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) and latterly the State Second Pension (S2P).

These second tier pensions were related to earnings (within certain bands) over the working lifetime. Since the late eighties up until last year, it was possible to opt-out of SERPS and use National Insurance rebates to buy alternative private pension provision. The advisability of this varied dependent on circumstances and actuarial forecasts - but that is another story!*

Under Labour, "Pension Credits" were introduced - these were payable to pensioners on low incomes in order to top-up the State Pension. They were, however, withdrawn through the use of a taper where a pensioner had alternative savings and private pension income. The effect of this was to penalise personal pension provision and saving for retirement - particularly at the low end of the pension income spectrum.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto at the last election committed the party to a "Citizens Pension" payable at the level of the pension credit, when resources allowed. The single-tier pension is very similar and the aim is for it to come into force in April 2017: There was no equivalent in the Conservative Manifesto (which committed to protecting the value of Pension Credits) or the Coalition Agreement; this is a coalition policy, yes, but it has heritage on the Liberal Democrat side of the Coalition.

In a letter to Lib Dem members, Steve Webb MP, Pensions Minister said:

"The single-tier pension is a fairer way of ensuring people will get a decent pension in their old age. It will treat men and women equally for the first time and will value unpaid caring work just as much as a high-flying city job. That is why the big winners will be women, carers and some low earners who haven’t previously received much in the way of earnings-related state pension. 

This new ‘single-tier’ pension has much in common with the long-cherished Liberal Democrat goal of a Citizen’s Pension. The basic idea is that someone starting work under the new rules will build up just one state pension. We are ending the fiendishly complex system of two state pensions and tax credits that Labour presided over. 

Our reforms go back to William Beveridge’s original idea of the modern state pension. Beveridge had envisaged a single, simple, decent state pension, paid after a lifetime of National Insurance Contributions. It will be set above the level of the basic means-test (currently £142.70 per week) and the full rate will be payable for 35 years of National Insurance Contributions. 

Successive governments tinkered with the state pension. That means we now have a system the Pensions Commission declared as one of the most complex in the world. Worse still, the current system actually discourages some people from putting anything aside. 

As the plans I unveiled today show, it doesn’t have to be like that in the future. Another example of Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivering a truly radical reform, and one that we can be proud of."

Andrew

*For the avoidance of confusion, I should point out that the ending of "Contracting Out" was introduced by Labour and carried through by the Coalition.

£14,815,000 for Schools in Bristol

Find out how much the Pupil Premium is worth in area or school by clicking here.

David Laws, Minister of State (Schools) at the Department of Education has today announced another step forward in the funding of the Liberal Democrat's Pupil Premium which channels extra funding to schools based on the number of pupils claiming (or having claimed in the past 5 years) free school meals.

The premium for 2013/14 will be £900 per pupil (worth £1.875bn according to this briefing from the Department for Education - as opposed to the figure on the above link - although I believe the latter may include the cost of other related schemes). This is an increase from £623 in 2012/13 and a step towards a target of channelling £2.5bn in this way.

The beauty of the Pupil Premium is that it is an additional sum for the school to use in the way they best see fit. There is no central dictation of how to spend the funds so they can be used for the general good of all the pupils or in a more targeted way. Outcomes are monitored by Ofsted, though, so any spending should have a measurable result.

It's another example of a thoroughly progressive measure being pushed from the Liberal Democrat Manifesto, through the coalition agreement and into practice by Lib Dems in Government. In hard and austere times, we are - contrary to the popular narrative - working to introduce fairness into the system. We can't always be successful but we can make our successes count. 

Andrew

Winning the Arguments on Tax

Courtesy of Mark Pack's Facebook page, which is a fabulous resource for Lib Dem related (and general political) news, here's a link to a photo of The Times' editorial yesterday which considers favourably the principles underlying Lib Dem tax policy: a presumption towards the taxation of wealth as opposed to income.

And it's not just The Times: Tim Montgomerie of Conservative Home also advocates tax cuts and (an element) of increased Wealth Taxes, although he comes at this from a somewhat different angle.Tory MP Mark Reckless has popped up on the wireless advocating Council Tax rebanding and closing of Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax loopholes. The Spectator has an interesting report on two papers from the OECD which would also appear to support this position.

Of course, there are still a number of disenting voices on the right... you can always rely on The Telegraph to see moves to rebalancing the burden of taxation as "cynical targetting of the better off"...

Andrew

The Pupil Premium

One of the biggest achievements of the Liberal Democrats in this government is pushing through the introduction of the "Pupil Premium". Whilst this was in both party's manifestos, the Tory commitment was much less specific than the Lib Dem's policy as I discussed here.

Today the Department for Education announced that next year a total of £1.25bn will be available for the programme, partly due to a reduction in the number of pupils claiming free school meals, with the figure increasing to £2.5bn in 2014-15. This is important as £2.5bn was the commitment in the Liberal Democrat's manifesto.

But what does £2.5bn mean in practice? Too often we hear governments and others bandy around large figures out of context in the hope that their size alone will impress. In my constituency (Bristol South) the Premium will amount to £1.84m - again hard to assess given the size of the constituency and number of schools involved.

Fortunately, the government is being open about the funding formula: an extra £488 for every pupil on free school meals, aggregated and paid on a per-school basis.

This money can be spent as the school feels fit but there is no doubt that this measure is a real attempt to target funding at those areas of need - a point addressed in this letter to party members from Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State for Children and Families (pictured above):

"Dear Andrew,

Liberal Democrats have always believed that education is the engine of social mobility, now we are making it happen.

Today the Government released the final Pupil Premium figures for every English local authority, constituency and school. I am delighted to announce that every school this year will receive an extra £488 for each child on free school meals they have on their roll.

Schools in your constituency of Bristol South are getting an extra £1,840,000 from the Pupil Premium to improve the education of the most disadvantaged children. You can find out what each school in your council area is getting by clicking here.

This is a real milestone for our party. The Pupil Premium is a policy we devised and campaigned for, and put at the heart of our Coalition negotiations. Now it is more than good policy, it is a reality making a difference to the school down your road. It goes directly into classrooms and will benefit all pupils.

It is also a milestone in breaking the link between poverty and achievement, tackling Labour’s shocking legacy where the richest 16-year olds are three times as likely to get five good GCSEs as the poorest.

This is just the start. We know that some families eligible for free school meals don’t claim them, for example, because some don’t know they can, and so their schools are missing out on funding. We also need to find out what schools are doing that’s really making a difference.

If you’d like to help, you could contact your local school to find out how they are using their Pupil Premium funding, and how they are making sure they are reaching every child.

Together, we can ensure every child is able to fulfil their potential.

Thank you

Sarah Teather MP
Minister of State, Department for Education"

This is a major achievement of being in coalition - and deserves to be shouted from the rooftops for the next 3 and a half years.

Andrew

In Which Every Party Gains (or should have...)

Here are excerpts from the three main party manifestos for the last election, in no particular order. See if you can work out which is which:

"We will work to build a consensus for a mainly-elected second chamber to replace the current House of Lords, recognising that an efficient and effective second chamber should play an important role in our democracy and requires both legitimacy and public confidence."

"We will ensure that the hereditary principle is removed from the House of Lords. Further democratic reform to create a fully elected Second Chamber will then be achieved in stages. At the end of the next Parliament one third of the House of Lords will be elected; a further one third of members will be elected at the general election after that. Until the final stage, the representation of all groups should be maintained in equal proportions to now. We will consult widely on these proposals, and on an open-list proportional representation electoral system for the Second Chamber, before putting them to the people in a referendum."

"Replace the House of Lords with a fully-elected second chamber with considerably fewer members than the current House."

The answer? The first is the Conservative Manifesto, the second is the Labour Manifesto and the, third curiously, is the Liberal Democrat one. 

There is something slightly odd about the fact that this one of the key policies and long-standing policies of the party be reduced to just 19 words (plus a further 5 in the summary of key priorities) but perhaps this a measure of how straightforward the policy was - simply an elected second chamber with no ifs, buts or further qualification.

The Labour proposals appear to be more thorough but the commitment was to consult on their proposals before putting them to the public in a referendum (along with AV) so this was rather less a cut and dried policy as it would seem at first reading.

Today the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (with the apparent wholehearted backing of the Prime Minster) has published a draft bill and white paper detailing proposed reforms. You can get more details by following the link, and on this BBC News report, but this excerpts summarises the proposals:

"The draft Bill sets out firm proposals, while the White Paper considers alternative options on which the Government remains open-minded.

The Government is committed to a wholly or mainly elected chamber and both options are reflected in what is published today.

The draft Bill illustrates how a reformed House of Lords with 80 per cent of elected members could look, with the remaining 20 per cent appointed independently to sit as cross-benchers. Alongside this, the White Paper sets out the case for a 100 per cent elected chamber."

Overall, what is being proposed is similar to what was in the Labour manifesto but, unfortunately, they have not responded favourably. Instead the progressive agenda is being carried forward by a Conservative/Lib Dem government.

In one respect this would appear not to be a Lib Dem Gain - after all the draft bill is for a majority rather than wholly elected house and every party accepts the need for reform - but the win is House of Lords reform at all. It is the presence of the Lib Dems in the coalition that has driven this forward - without us it may well have been kicked into the long grass or faced the same fate as every previous attempt at reform over the past 100 years.

Andrew

Nick lists some Lib Dem Achievements...

In a post here on Wednesday I mentioned Nick Clegg's speech at the National Liberal Club, marking the first anniversary of the coalition government. As part of that speech he discussed what he sees as some of the challenges for the party and for coalition government in the next few years as well as listing some of the Liberal Democrat successes achieved so far.

Many of these have already been mentioned on this blog, but here is a list of the things Nick chose to highlight in his speech:

"...cutting income tax for ordinary taxpayers

ending child detention 

increasing the state pension 

introducing free nursery education for disadvantaged 2 year olds 

adding a quarter of a million apprenticeships 

increasing tax on capital gains 

reining in the banks

creating a Green Investment Bank and a green deal

getting more money into schools to help poorer pupils."

 

Earlier, there was an interesting section of the speech emphasising the Lib Dem's strength on the the economy in the last parliament and giving a vision of a rebalanced economy for the future:

"But we also needed a Government willing to embark on the long-term changes necessary to fix the economy for the future. Short-term repair and long-term reform: that’s the Liberal Democrat economic agenda in government.

... 

The Liberal Democrats were in the lead in identifying what was wrong with the economy long before the last election. The dangers of the deficit, for one: in fact I remember being criticised for warning of the depth of the cuts that would be required.

But we have also been warning for years about the way in which the economy had become dangerously lopsided; too reliant on London and the South East; pumped up on private and public debt; at the mercy of an under-regulated banking sector; and struggling with a creaking infrastructure.

It is this Liberal Democrat analysis of what is wrong with the economy that underpins the Government’s approach to putting it right.

Reform of the banking system. A Regional Growth Fund to support businesses across the nation. A Green Investment Bank to build the green infrastructure needed to cut carbon emissions.

In short, a rewiring of the economy to ensure sustainable, balanced growth."

Andrew

Accentuating the Positive

There hasn't been a lot for the Liberal Democrats to cheer about in the past couple of weeks and the blogosphere is awash with analysis of where we're at and how we remedy the situation. An excellent post in this regard can be found at Caron's Musings in which she reacts to Nick Clegg's speech this morning.

One of the key factors which has been identified for rebuilding the electoral base is the communication of the positive impact of the party on the coalition - not just on our pet issues but also on those issue which resonate most with the public. I think Caron's picked a particularly unsung Lib Dem Gain in the example she uses here:

"By suggesting that the Liberal Democrats be more assertive about their differences he makes it sound like we need to argue our case more in the Government. It's more that we have to do it in public. I know that our ministers have robustly fought and won arguments within the Government. Remember that mad idea of Osborne's of cutting Housing Benefit for people out of work for a year? That's gone. And who got rid of it? I'll give you a clue. It wasn't any Tory. It was our ministers calmly and feistily acting on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable."

Over on Stephen's Liberal Journal, in his post reacting to Clegg's speech, he lists some of the issues and areas where the Lib Dem influence on Government policy has been stronger and gives the lie to Conservative claims that this is not the case (reported here):

"David Cameron is denying claims that Lib Dems have "moderated" the Conservative agenda. So Dave, as the Browne report suggested uncapped tuition fees, would the debacle of yesterday where [it was suggested] students paid full fees have become a reality for all without Lib Dem intervention? Would this have been brought in without any requirement on the Universities to help the poorer students into Higher Education? Would the income tax threshold have risen so far ahead of inflation, to ease the burden of your VAT increase on the poorest families? Would you have returned pensions in line with earnings, something your party has said for a long time they were against?"

There's a mountain to climb, and many other electoral tests to come, but there is also a lot of positive things to shout about even if things may have been somewhat negative of late. As well as learning the various lessons of last Thursday, we cannot and should not forget them. And we should communicate them as widely as possible.

Andrew

P.S. Stephen's post also features a bit of classic New Romantics in direct contravention of what Nick says about not going back to the Eighties! :-p

Human Trafficking and Student Visas

There have been two quiet, but significant, wins for the Lib Dems in government in the above areas. These are that Britain will cease to opt out of the EU directive on Human Trafficking and there will not be a cap on the number of Student Visas granted. Both of these policies are Liberal Democrat in origin.

I'm not going to go into detail as thas been done better elsewhere. Specifically:

• Politics Home
• Nick Thornsby's blog (and h/t to him for the tweet that's prompted this post)
• Caron's Musings
• Mark Pack's blog

Andrew

No withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights

You know what it's like, you wait ages for a post to come along and then two come along at once...

The Guardian reports today that withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights will not be an option for consideration by the convention the Government is establishing to explore a UK Bill of Rights despite this being an aim of the Tory right. The commission will also report to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Nick Clegg, rather than the Home or Foreign Secretaries.

"Clegg won his battle largely because the coalition agreement, negotiated in haste in the immediate aftermath of the general election, makes it clear that the coalition should not seek to withdraw from the convention. It states: 'We will establish a commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European convention on human rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties.'"

 The article also points out that this will 

"effectively [leave] prime minister David Cameron with the option of preparing his own party's proposals for the 2015 general election manifesto."

...and for the Liberal Democrats to develop their own policies also.

You can read the article in full here.

Andrew

P.S. Hat-tip to @NickThornsby on Twitter for the link.

Lib Dem Gains... in the words of Nick Clegg

I know posts here are sporadic but that doesn't meant that I don't believe the Liberal Democrats aren't achieving things in this government. It merely means that my focus has been on other things and that I've not used previous posts in quite the way I anticipated - e.g. as providing a brief digest of coverage on various issues elsewhere.

Anyway, this post comes on the heals of Nick Clegg's closing speech to the Spring Conference, which has garnered much coverage elsewhere. I therefore invite you to visit the party website for the text of the speech, Nick Thornsby's blog for his excerpt and brief analysis of the achievements of the past year and Lib Dem Voice for a summation of key points. 

Also worth a visit are Caron's Musings who has published excerpts with the promise of more analysis later - if you don't already follow her blog, you probably should - and Spiderplant Land where you'll find the text of Nick's opening speech to conference.

Andrew

Update: Virtually Naked also now has a brief assessment of Nick Clegg and the speech.

Equality of Marriage

Today Lynne Featherstone, Home Office Parliamentary under Secretary of State responsible for equalities and Liberal Democrat MP, announced that the government is to drop the explicit ban on Civil Partnerships in religious settings. This will allow those religious bodies (in England and Wales) that do wish to hold partnership ceremonies to do so.

The bigger announcement, however, is that the government will look at addressing the differences between Marriage and Civil Partnerships.

While a commitment to look at the issue is a long way from legislation allowing for same-gender marriage or mixed-gender Civil Partnerships, I think we can be reasonably certain that had the Conservatives (or, of course, Labour for that matter) been governing alone, this would not be on the agenda at all.

Full equality of access for marriage and Civil Partnerships was only adopted as Liberal Democrat policy adopted at the autumn conference.  Today's announcement means that the party is not now influencing government thinking just in those areas covered by the manifesto or coalition agreement but also in the development of future policy.

As we move towards the first anniversary of the government there will increasingly be issues and policies which were not in either manifesto or the coalition programme. It is reassuring therefore to see that a Liberal tone is being adopted in relation to this issue and this will hopefully apply  to other subjects too.

You can read Lynne Featherstone's blog here and you can read more on the announcement on the Government Equalities Office website.

Andrew

Protection of Freedoms Bill

Today the government unveiled it's Freedom Bill. As is tradition with these posts, I'll quote from both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Manifestos... and the Coalition Programme for government:

First the Conservative Manifesto:

"To protect our freedoms from state encroachment and encourage greater social responsibility, we will replace the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights."

Now the Liberal Democrat Manifesto:

"Restore and protect hard-won British civil liberties with a Freedom Bill"

"Introduce a Freedom Bill. We will regulate CCTV, stop councils from spying on people, stop unfair extradition to the US, defend trial by jury, and stop children being fingerprinted at school without their parents’ permission."

"Remove innocent people from the police DNA database and stop storing DNA from innocent people and children in the future, too."

"Ensure that everyone has the same protections under the law by protecting the Human Rights Act."

And finally the Coalition Agreement:

"We will introduce a Freedom Bill."

While the Conservative idea of a UK Bill of Rights sounds attractive on some levels, repealing the Human Rights Act and (potentially) leaving the European Convention on Human RIghts would have been a retrograde step. Now we have a bill which has the following statement on its very first page:

"Secretary Theresa May has made the following statement under section 19(1)(a) of the
Human Rights Act 1998:
In my view the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Bill are compatible with the
Convention rights."

While it may not (quite) cover all the areas listed - although it also covers a number of other areas - the Protection of Freedoms Bill would not have happened without Liberal Democrats in Government.

Here's a video of Nick Clegg addressing the issue of criminal record checks for those working with children, courtesy of the BBC:

Caron's Musings , Richard Baum , and Duncan Stott have more and if you're so minded, you can read the bill here.

Andrew

An End to 28 days Detention Without Charge

It has been announced today that the Government will end the provision for detention without charge for up to 28 days. The limit will now be 14 days although allowance will be made for "very exceptional circumstances" when 28 days may be required.

This measure wasn't in the Coalition Agreement nor was it in the Conservative Manifesto. It sounded familiar, though...

"Reduce the maximum period of pre-charge detention to 14 days."

Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2010, page 95

Hat-tip to Virtually Naked for this. Further information can be found on the BBC News site and on the Home Office website.

Andrew

Extending Freedom of Information

"We believe in freedom, justice, prosperity and human rights for all and will do all we can to work towards a world where these hopes become reality."

 The Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2010

On Friday, Nick Clegg is set to announce plans to extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and make it easier to process such requests. Bodies such as the Association of Chief Police Officers and UCAS could be covered, according to this report by the BBC.

The Freedom of Information Act was mentioned twice in the Liberal Democrat Manifesto - with specific but not exclusive, reference made to Network Rail:

"Overhaul Network Rail to put the interests of passengers first and bring it under the Freedom of Information Act to make it more open."

"Strengthen the Data Protection Act and the Office of the Information Commissioner, extending Freedom of Information legislation to private companies delivering monopoly public services such as Network Rail." 

By contrast it was not mention in the Conservative Manifesto, although the Office of the Information Commissioner was:

"We will strengthen the powers of the Information Commissioner to penalise any public body found guilty of mismanaging data."

So there's no prizes for identifying the origin of the following commitment from the Coalition Agreement:

"We will extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency."

...and no prizes for guessing the origin of tomorrow's proposals.

 

Andrew

Lib Dem Achievements in Government

This blog is all about highlighting Liberal Democrat achievements in Government. As such, it will feature issues as and when they arise. 

A lot of movement had already been made on a number of manifesto commitments prior to me starting to post here, though. Fortunately a summary of these has been produced and you can find it here - it's well worth a read.

Andrew

Hat Tip to Matthew Harris for his blogpost on this (and to whoever posted the Twitter link that I followed to find it - unfortunately, I can't now locate the tweet concerned!)

Royal Mail Part Privatisation

The sell off of shares in the Royal Mail is in the news today as it has become clear that, surprisingly, the Royal Mail is under no obligation to use the Monarch's image on stamps. But that is a side issue as far as this particular blog is concerned.

The Liberal Democrat Manifesto said this with regard to the Royal Mail:

"Give both Royal Mail and post offices a long-term future, by separating Post Office Ltd from the Royal Mail and retaining Post Office Ltd in full public ownership. 49 per cent of Royal Mail will be sold to create funds for investment. The ownership of the other 51 per cent will be divided between an employee trust and the government."

Oddly, the Tory manifesto didn't mention the Royal Mail and only mentioned Post Offices in passing. The Coalition agreement, however, states:

"We will seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership. We will retain Post Office Ltd in public ownership."

The government has also opted to delay a decision on the precise percentage to be sold, so it may yet prove to go further than the Lib Dem mainifesto (the bill allows the sale of up to 90% with 10% passing to employee ownership).

That said, however, this is another example of policy into which Liberal Democrats input is obvious and which is being implemented by Lib Dem ministers.  See the Department of Business website for more on the Royal Mail and the government's proposals and check the bill's parliamentary progress here.

Andrew

An End to Child Detention

Nick Clegg announced today that no children would be detained for immigration purposes over Christmas and that the practice would be completely ended by May 2011.

For more:

BBC News

Lib Dem Voice

The Deputy Prime Minister's You Tube channel:

Andrew

This Blog's Purpose

When the coalition was created in May, Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat negotiation team were lauded for their achievements. Commitments were secured with regard to each of the four key manifesto promises and a  host of other policies, as well as and five Cabinet positions. There was much talk, some of it from bitter conservatives, of us punching above our weight.

Fast forward 8 months and things may not seem so rosy. The party has taken a real battering on tuition fees and there is a perception that it is, somehow, being used as a human (or hamanising) shield for Tory policies. Or, to carry on with the boxing metaphor, the party is being allowed to be used as a punchbag for any unpopular policies, regardless of what the manifestos said.

Counter intuitively, though, when Liberal Democrat policies are implemented - such as the introduction of the Pupil Premium - the party does not seem to get the credit. This was noted by Lord Bonkers, who lamented the lack of trumpeting of the Pupil Premium and led me to write this post on my general blog, the widow's world.

I intend it to function as a digest of links to news reports and blog articles about positive Liberal Democrat achievements arising from the coalition. Occassionally I shall cross-post longer pieces but don't anticipate I'll have the time to do that on an ongoing basis.

The first post proper - to be made shortly - will celebrate the news that detention of children in the immigration system is to end.