The 25p state pension boost for the over-80s is a worthless insult

In 1971, Edward Heath’s Conservative government introduced an increased state pension for the over-80s. The 25p boost was a valuable addition to the £ 6 weekly pension.

Keith Joseph, secretary of state for health and social services at the time, told the Commons the government recognised “albeit in a small way, the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others. As they grow old their possessions wear out and they need help for necessary jobs, which they used to do themselves.” Yet today, more than 50 years later, that 25p weekly increase is still paid at the same rate. It has been eroded by inflation and become essentially worthless.

Back in the early 1970s, the addition was worth around 4pc of the weekly pension, which now would be more than £6.50 on top of the basic state pension of £169.50 a week. This would be an extra £350 or so a year – well worth having.

A parliamentary paper published more than a decade ago says that the addition was “specifically excluded” from the index-linking provisions of the Social Security Act 1975, and that “governments of both parties” have resisted suggestions it should be increased. Instead, politicians have argued that money is better spent increasing the basic rate of the pension, and also through means-tested benefits such as the winter fuel payment.

It is a long-forgotten perk similar to the £10 state pension Christmas bonus that was introduced a year later in 1972 and has been frozen ever since – and would now be worth around £114.

However, the 25p increase is being gradually phased out – those receiving the new state pension (that is, those who hit state pension age after April 2016) will never get it. These days the over-80s are no longer treated as particularly in need and you cannot imagine any modern government introducing a similar top-up.

The 25p boost has been downgraded into a worthless relic, but at the same time the over-75s have lost their free television licences. Their assets are also under threat from the injustice of sky-high care fees that can quickly wipe out any wealth they have set aside.

The state pension was introduced to help those who cannot help themselves in old age. Yet the benefits system now makes little distinction between retirees who are young and old, and rich or poor. For many, retirement comes in two halves, one when you are fit and well enough to travel, holiday and enjoy life’s luxuries – and another when you become more frail, and more dependent on the state and others.

The early years of retirement should be the time to spend your hard-earned private pension savings, with additional state support becoming vital in true old age. Yet our state pension is the same for everyone from day one. There are few nuances. It’s a benefit that anyone over 66 can claim if they have the necessary contributions and credits.

The degradation of the 25p increase puts into perspective this Government’s blind spending on the triple lock. The billions spent on uprating the pension for all could surely have been better spent on improving the benefit for the most elderly and needy, just like the Conservatives set out to do in 1971.

‘Uprated for inflation, it would now be worth an extra £350 or so a year – well worth having’