division_name: Opposition Day &#8212; [13th Allotted Day] &#8212; Pensioner Poverty
motion: <p class="" pid="b.832.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes">I beg to move,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b.832.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House deplores the fact that, even on the Government's own figures, there are nearly two million pensioners living in poverty in the UK, that the poorest pensioners are seeing their incomes decline in real terms and that according to EU figures only pensioners in Latvia, Cyprus and Spain are more likely to fall into poverty; is concerned at the damage caused to many pensioners' finances by the alarming rise in food, energy and fuel prices and in council tax; regrets the fact that some 2.25 million older households are suffering from fuel poverty; disagrees with the Government's refusal to state when it intends to restore the link between average earnings and the basic state pension; notes with regret the Government's decision to abandon its target for maximising the take-up of pension credit when some 1.7 million pensioners eligible are not claiming it; further deplores the sharp decline in private pensions savings since 1997; and calls on the Government to finally redeem its pledge, made in 1997, to ensure that 'all pensioners should share fairly in the increasing prosperity of the nation'.</p>
  
  <p class="" pid="b.841.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes">I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b.841.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">"welcomes the policies of this Government to tackle pensioner poverty, which have lifted around two million pensioners out of absolute poverty and over one million out of relative poverty, and have led to spending of around &#163;12 billion extra on pensioners compared with 1997; recognises that pension credit allows pensioners to live with dignity and rewards those who have saved for their own retirement; acknowledges the introduction of and increases to the winter fuel payment and further measures to ensure pensioners can keep warm; notes the provision of free off-peak bus travel granting freedom to pensioners and ensuring that they are not isolated in their own community; welcomes the long-term framework for pensions through the Pensions Act 2007, including relinking the basic state pension to average earnings and ensuring equality for women and carers with men by 2025; and further welcomes the private pension reforms in the Pensions Bill which will enable individuals to take personal responsibility for their own retirement."</p>
  
  <p pid="b.881.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes"><i> The House having divided:</i> Ayes 213, Noes 284.</p>