With chancellor Gordon Brown preparing to take over as prime minister in the next few weeks, the research wing of a financial services provider has taken the opportunity to assess the impact on pension holders of his time at the Treasury.
Specifically, Shona Dobie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, has noted that the chancellor's tenure has coincided with a hike in inflation for the over-75s to four per cent, which is more than 40 per cent above the headline rate.
The inflationary figures effectively mean that pension holders are being particularly affected by price rises, thanks in part to the fact that a greater proportion of pensioners' income is spent on energy and food bills.
And Ms Dobie has contended that, in spite of initiatives such as pensions credits and one-off lump sums, pensioners have encountered problems as a result of a pensions decision from Mr Brown.
"Linking pensions to earnings - and not inflation - would have been a more straightforward and meaningful way to help pensioners' income from falling behind," she argued.
Recently, Mr Brown was criticised by shadow chancellor George Osborne in the House of Commons for a pensions decision made in 1997.
Mr Osborne argued that pension holders had lost out as a result of Mr Brown's decision to abolish tax breaks for pensions.
Pensions legacy of outgoing chancellor assessed
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Pensions legacy of outgoing chancellor assessed
Tue, 22 May 2007
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