A leading pensions guru has said pension credits could be phased out temporarily by the new coalition Government as a compromise over state pension reform.
Independent pension consultant Ros Altmann said Chris Grayling, the Tory minister of state for the Department for Work and Pensions, had said pension credits could be phased out over 10 years to support the Lib Dems' plans for a citizen's pension.
The removal of the credits would be paid for by increases to the basis state pension, she said.
"Grayling has spoken to me about making pension credit temporary which will fit in with Lib Dem plans to aim to achieve a citizen's pension in 10 years time," she said.
"It would be temporary as a policy and they would be able to gradually phase out the credit with increases to the basic state pension."
Meanwhile, Altmann said she believes Neil Record, the former Bank of England economist who first broke the news of the UK's £1 trillion pensions black hole, could be given an influential role on the coalition's public sector pensions committee.
Copyright Press Association 2010