Andrew Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary has given new hope to around 60,000 pensioners who have lost out with their pension scheme being closed. Whilst Mr Smith said that he did not want to raise the hopes of affected pensioners, he confirmed that the Government was looking at giving out ˜discretionary assistance".
Our View
Whilst the Government is planning to introduce the pension protection fund to help people in the future, it is good to hear about help for people that have already suffered. However, the problem is that with Government financial assistance, the money has to come from somewhere and that will most probably be the taxpayer. This is another instance of giving money out with one hand and taking it back with the other.
In reality, the companies with the schemes that have been wound up should be taken to task over why the schemes have closed. If they could have done more to safeguard pensioners" interests, they should be made to contribute.