Rachel Reeves: Striving to give pensioners a better future

As Beveridge said: "Any plan of Social Security worthy of its name must ensure that every citizen... can claim as of right when he is past work, an income adequate to maintain him."

He was right. It is the responsibility of society to support people in old age but it is also imperative that while in work, employers and employees put aside something for retirement as well. Increasing longevity creates huge opportunities for people and society, but it also means that pension policy and provision for retirement is more important than ever.

So it is a fantastic opportunity for me to have been asked to be the shadow minister for pensions. My background as an economist, and my local knowledge as a patron of the Leeds West charity Bramley Elderly Action, will, I hope, enable me to bring skills, experience and passion to my role.

Firstly, I am proud of Labour's achievement in government,

particularly in lifting pensioners out of poverty. Between 1979 and 1997, the state pension had declined from 20 per cent of average male earnings to 14 per cent. In 1997, 29 per cent of pensioners were living in poverty. But since then, 900,000 pensioners have been lifted out of poverty, average gross pensioner incomes have increased by more than 40 per cent in real terms, ahead of the growth in average earnings, and no pensioner now has to live on less than 132.60 per week (compared with 69 per week in 1997).

The winter fuel allowance, free off-peak travel on local buses, free TV licences for the over-75s and increased tax thresholds to ensure that 60 per cent of pensioners do not pay any tax, have also made a difference.

But addressing the immediate challenge was not sufficient.

The Turner Report, commissioned by the last government and published in 2005, aimed to improve and make sustainable pension provision for the future. The consensus that was built up as part of the Pensions Commission's process is key to the successful implementation of its far-reaching recommendations – an issue which is as long term and complex as pensions requires cross-party consensus and support from current and future pensioners as well.

Labour took forward Turner's recommendations in two Acts of Parliament and, if implemented correctly, these changes will extend pension saving to millions of people who previously did not save for their retirement, and tackle the UK's pensions challenge with an ageing population and insufficient savings.

This is necessary now more than ever – even since the Turner Report, the proportion of the population saving for a pension has dropped from 53 to 44 per cent.

So where now? How can we ensure that the momentum for reform is not lost? Since the new government assumed office in May, we have had a Budget, a Comprehensive Spending Review, and several other key announcements (not always planned) in the pensions field. It is my role to ensure that through these changes, the Government builds upon, rather than undermines or unravels, the achievements of the Labour government for pensioners.

I will scrutinise every measure that reduces pensioners' incomes and standard of living, from the freezing of Pension Credit, to the cuts to local councils, the use of RPI to CPI for uprating of benefits, and the increase in VAT. But I will support the linking of pensions to earnings as Labour committed to from 2012. Pensioners deserve dignity and security in retirement.

Take three areas where the Government are currently making changes – state pension age, auto-enrolment and merging pensioner benefits.

First, while I understand the need to accelerate the increase in the state pension age, I am very concerned by the disproportionate effect that this will have on women, and particularly those women aged 50 to 59 who have little time to prepare for change. I have been extensively lobbied on this, not least by my mother who was born in 1954.

Second, taking forward the previous government's policy of auto-enrolling workers in to occupational pensions is an area where I will support the coalition.

Labour legislated for workers to be enrolled automatically into a workplace pension scheme from 2012 – helping 10 million people save for retirement who previously weren't putting aside money for old age.

The new government is continuing with this policy and I enthusiastically welcome that – although the move to exclude low-paid and part-time workers on less than 7,500 a year is disappointing.

Third, when the Government publish their plans to merge pensioner benefits, to have a single, simple payment, I will scrutinise the details to make sure the reforms are affordable and fair to all pensioners. The devil is in the detail.

As Beveridge recognised, the mark of a decent society is the way in which it treats those in retirement. My approach is to strive to ensure that the cross-party, cross-interest consensus of the Turner Report is taken forward. A consensus is hard won but easily lost.

Yet consensus is essential for building the sustainable change that is necessary if we are to improve the incomes and living standards of pensioners today and in the future.

Rachel Reeves is the Leeds West MP and a shadow work and pensions minister.