Next month several significant changes to the State Pension system, introduced by the Pensions Act 2007, come into force. For people reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010, the number of years' contributions required to achieve a full Basic State Pension reduces overnight from the current requirement of 39 years for women and 44 for men, to 30 for both women and men. A proportionate amount will apply where there are less than 30 qualifying years.

People caring for children up to the age of 12 and those who spend at least 20 hours a week caring for severely disabled people will now will be able to build up a state pension entitlement through weekly carer's credits. These credits will be more flexible than Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) which requires people to build up a full 'qualifying year' to protect their state pension entitlement. At the moment, because a minimum of between nine and eleven qualifying years are required to get any pension at all, some get nothing.

Another change affects entitlement to the guarantee credit component of State Pension Credit, where the capital disregard goes up from £6,000 to £10,000. The process to claim Pension Credit, however, is notoriously challenging. The PC1 application form is formidable: it runs to 22 pages, with a further 22 pages of notes to help you fill it in.

It is partly for this reason, one suspects, that a significant number of people who are entitled to Pension Credit are not claiming it. The DWP acknowledged the problem in a discussion paper published on 13 October 2009. It proposed a pilot programme to make awards of Pension Credit to a sample group of pensioners for a limited period of time without them first having made a claim. A consultation response paper was published on 8 January. Twenty responses were received during the four weeks allowed. There was considerable support in principle from respondents to the initiative.

Accordingly, on 10 March the DWP laid The State Pension Credit Pilot Scheme Regulations 2010 before Parliament under s.19(2A) of the State Pension Credit Act 2002, for approval by resolution of each House. Legislation is required because s.1(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 provides that no person shall be entitled to any benefit unless they make a claim for it in the manner, and within the time, prescribed in relation to that benefit. However, a fundamental element of the pilot exercise is to trial making payments of Pension Credit based on information to which DWP already has access, and without the need for a claim. DWP has therefore taken the necessary powers in s.27 of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 to provide for making payments of Pension Credit, without the need for a prerequisite claim, for up to 12 months from the commencement date of this instrument.

This pilot will involve making awards of Pension Credit to a randomly selected sample group of some two thousand pensioners for twelve weeks without them having first made a claim. It is envisaged that the pilot will run in late spring or summer 2010. At the end of the twelve week pilot period there will be a detailed evaluation of the pilot, which it is anticipated will take some eighteen months to complete.

Other new DWP legislation

The Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/646) amend the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/1004) so that regulation 52A (inserted by SI 2004/770 Reg 12), which provides for the return of NICs paid in excess of the annual maximum prescribed in regulation 21, takes account of the introduction of the "upper accrual point" (UAP).

From 6 April 2009, entitlement to contracted-out rebates for those in C/O employment and entitlement to minimum contributions for those who hold Appropriate Personal Pensions are calculated by reference to the UAP (fixed at £770 pw by s.3(4)(a) NICA 2008), rather than as before the UEL, which is higher and usually rises each year. Earners who hold two or more separate employments can sometimes pay in excess of their annual maximum of NICs liability. Where such overpayments occur the excess is refunded to the earner under reg 52A.

The Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling) Order 2010 (SI 2010/666) sets the levy ceiling for the financial year beginning on 1 April 2010 at £871,183,684.

The Pension Protection Fund (Pension Compensation Cap) Order 2010 (SI 2010/667) increases the compensation cap to £33,054.09 from 1 April 2010.