Pensioners' organisations will gather at the House of Commons on Tuesday 1st March to lobby their MPs against the government's decision to switch the inflation link for pensions from the Retail Prices Index to the Consumer Prices Index. Trade unions and pensioners' organisations pointed out after the decision that the change had been made without the government consulting the national statistician.

They say that the Treasury had ignored warnings by the Royal Statistical Society and the UK Statistics Authority that the CPI was an unsuitable measure of pensioner income.

They also argue that CPI should not be used at least until housing costs, such as council tax and heating, are included.

At the same time, legal advisors acting on behalf of Prospect, the FDA, the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance and the Police Federation have written to the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions giving warning of a possible claim for judicial review in relation to the government's decision.

The Royal Statistical Society is among those calling for the CPI to be updated to reflect household budgets.

RSS vice-president Jill Leyland this month wrote to Sir Michael Scholar, chair of the UK Statistics Authority. She acknowledged work being carried out by the authority's consumer prices advisory committee on addressing some issues relating to the methodology behind how the CPI is calculated.

But she said: "We are concerned, as I am sure you are, about the further damage that will be done to consumer confidence in official statistics if it is perceived that uprating to pensions and other benefits is being governed by an index perceived by many as inappropriate and unfair without a more relevant index being offered by statisticians."

The potential legal challenge to the government's decision would be that, in choosing the CPI, the secretary of state did not act strictly in accordance with statute and erred in adopting a measure of inflation that is directed towards changes in consumer behaviour rather than changes in prices.

In addition to the potential challenge, the organisations continue to take legal advice on how to support members who took out contracts to purchase added years/added pension, on the understanding that the added years would be linked to RPI. 

Protestors at the lobby are invited to a rally meeting from 1.15pm-2.15pm in Committee Room 6, before they go on to lobby their MPs. More information is available on the CSPA website.

Please also urge your MP to support Early Day Motion 1032

which has so far been signed by 117 MPs.

The event is being organised by the CSPA with the Public Service Pensioners Council, National Pensioners' Convention and Occupational Pensioners' Alliance, supported by Age UK and several trade unions, including Prospect.

Philip Williams, chair of the Connect Greater London Central branch, has created a campaigning area on the branch's website with background information on the CPI issue.