The report on the National Association of Pensioners’ reactions to the Pensions White Paper (TMID, 31 March) described as “amusing” the fact that Appendix IX on page 154 of the document erroneously shows the maximum pensionable income of Lm6,750 as having come into force in January 1987 whereas it was established on 3 January 1981 by Legal Notice 101.

“Amusing” might not perhaps be quite the word to describe such an error. It is difficult to comprehend how a panel of senior people supported by the resources of government did not have at its disposal the information available to a group of elderly volunteers working on a shoe-string. Unfortunately, where facts are concerned, it is not the only error.

The last sentence of paragraph six on page 24 reads: “Following the receipt of the pension, the pension income is subsequently increased by a cost of living increase statutorily provided by government on an annual basis.” This is not so in the case of pensioners who retired from posts for which the current salary does not exceed Lm6,750. Section 59 of the Social Security Act (Cap 318) imposes an obligation on the department to re-assess pensions annually. Because of this dispensation, thousands of pensioners have an upward revision of their pension to reflect salary changes in addition to the Cola increase.

This error (incidentally the same information was fed to the World Bank in 2003) led the Pensions Working Group to declare erroneously that “current pensioners and individuals who will retire prior to the implementation of the proposed changes will not be affected by the recommendations proposed”. Like Queen Victoria, we are not amused.

A.J. Tabone

VALLETTA