Dear Listener

Is the government wobbling over plans to accelerate the rise in women’s State Pension age? Half a million will see their already rising pension age (it is about 60 and 7 months now) pushed more than a year further away and an unlucky 33,000 who expected to retire at 64 in March 2018 will now have to wait until they are 66 in March 2020. Read the full delays table http://bbc.in/fwwOit

Here are the straws in the wind which indicate a change in the weather. On 11 May Pensions Minister Steve Webb wound up a debate on the delays in the House of Commons with these words “I will certainly reflect on the contributions of my hon. Friends and other Members… Some of the points that have been put on record today have been made forcefully and effectively.”(Hansard col 443WH)

On 18 May he used a similar phrase in answer to questions at a conference at the British Library for pension professionals when he is reported by a lawyer present to have said “We will reflect on the State Pension Age for those women affected by more than two years.”

Ministers don’t normally reflect that hard on settled policy.

That same day, 18 May, Jenny Willott MP, who speaks on pension issues for all 39 backbench Liberal Democrat MPs, issued a press release saying there was a “real and justified concern that the changes to state pension age are deeply unfair, particularly to the 33,000 women who are being asked to work two years longer at very short notice.” I understand that her backbenchers may well vote against the plans when they are properly debated in a few weeks time; 14 have already signed a motion condemning the changes. She took these concerns to Steve Webb at a meeting in the evening of 18 May. Afterwards she would not tell me what was said but confirmed she was “optimistic”.

Any change to the announced plans would be expensive. Scrapping the accelerated programme completely and moving pension age up to 66 by 2022 rather than 2020 would cost an estimated £10bn. Even lesser changes are measured in the hundreds of millions. Although Steve Webb is, of course, in charge of pension policy the Treasury remains in charge of spending. If Steve Webb wants to spend money on changing the announced timetable, past experience suggests he will have to pay for it by making cuts elsewhere.

You can still hear (and read) our pension special from 30 April on our website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/9469419.stm.

***IN MONEY BOX THIS WEEK***

Landbanking – never, ever, ever buy land from a company selling small patches of earth in the hope of making a fortune. It never works. This week we update you on the story of Property Partnership – now in administration – and ex-soldier Billy McNaught whose small plot bought for £10,000 was valued by an estate agent at just £75. We name the similar companies springing up to fill the gap left by PP and its high pressure sales of worthless patches of countryside.

Is HMRC treating people fairly who ask it to give up its claim to recover old tax which it failed to collect because of its own mistakes? An accountant sounds off. HMRC remains silent.

Inflation – the Bank of England is failing to control inflation which is now 4.5% (CPI) against a target of 2%; and 5.2% (RPI) against a target which was 2.5%. So should it be raising interest rates? And is its forecast of CPI inflation falling to 2% by early to mid 2013 realistic?

The cost of oil is now $112 a barrel, well below the high of $147 reached in 2008. But petrol is now £1.36 a litre compared with £1.20 in 2008. Why? The answer may surprise you.

And the companies which are circling for their share of a £2bn prize – a third of your PPI compensation payments. Never, ever, ever use them. Apply to the lender yourself and if refused go to the (free) financial ombudsman service – that way you keep the lot. Plus more from the banks….perhaps.

Five (items) into 24 (minutes) may or may not go. And there are other stories, lurking like starlets at Cannes shouting ‘Here I am’, which really really want to get in front of the microphone. So find out what makes it and what doesn’t by listening to Radio 4 on Saturday just after noon or the repeat on Sunday at 9pm or any time to the podcast www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox. There you can still download the special 30 April programme on the death of final salary pension schemes. Check out our website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox to follow links, download transcripts, send us stories or ideas you want us to look into and Have Your Say on HMRC (How Many Rejected Concessions).

What are your rights at work? How are they changing? And how do they affect your finances? Money Box Live on Wednesday takes your questions on employment rights. Call 03700 100 444 when lines open at 1.30pm on Wednesday, or send an e-mail using the form on the programme page http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/9490342.stm.

This newsletter is available at bbc.co.uk/moneybox/newsletter around the time it hits your inbox (tell your friends who don’t subscribe) and you can join more than 6800 others who enjoy my random but timely thoughts on money and a few other things whenever I’m awake at www.twitter.com/paullewismoney 

Best wishes,

Paul

PS Don’t forget the trail for the programme on BBC1 Breakfast just after 0845. And I am back on breakfast on Thursday around 0640 and around 0820 (though those times are very subject to change) with another story and answering emails from viewers.

e-mail Paul Lewis