Seniors will receive an increase in their pensions of up to $66 per month from September after the Premier tabled legislation in the House of Assembly yesterday.

David Burt, who is also the Minister of Finance, said the increase demonstrated the Government’s continued drive to support the elderly.

The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order will see pensions grow by 4.1 per cent, in line with the rate of inflation in the past year.

The basic contributory pension will rise from $1,107 to $1,152 per month, and the maximum pension will increase from $1,607 to $1,673 per month.

Mr Burt said that the increase honoured a 2017 election pledge to peg pension payouts to inflation.

He added: “This Progressive Labour Party government reveres its seniors and understands the challenges that are faced by many.

“We also believe that it is essential that we keep our promises made to the electorate, as it is vital to maintain trust in politics.

“Therefore, the proposed pension increase aims to sustain the quality of life of our seniors and people with disabilities in the face of 40-year high inflation, ensuring that their pensions keep up with rising prices.”

The Premier reeled off a catalogue of initiatives that had improved the lives of seniors under his administration

He said: “This government is proud of its record of delivering for our seniors. We kept our promise to increase the prescription drug benefit under Future Care. We kept our promise to build more affordable housing for our seniors.

“We kept our promise to expand the home-care benefit under Future Care. We kept our promise to introduce a Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for seniors.

“And today, Mr Speaker, we are once again keeping our promise to increase Social Insurance by the rate of inflation to support the seniors of Bermuda.

Mr Burt said that the methodology used to calculate pension contributions and social insurance payments was still under review and that recommendations would come before Cabinet shortly.

An overhaul of the contributions system was announced in last November’s Throne Speech.

He said: “Many are concerned with the state of the Contributory Pension Fund and its ability to continue paying benefits as our population ages.

“The work is well advanced on finalising the revisions to the public pension system, with final consultations commencing next week before the Cabinet takes under consideration the proposals to bring to this honourable House in the next session.

“In the interim, this government will keep its election promise to the people of Bermuda and ensure the annual social insurance increase occurs in August of this year, with the increased payments going to our pensioners on September 15.

“I look forward to providing this House with more detailed information about the Contributory Pension Fund, the proposed 2023 increase, and the reforms under consideration when we debate this proposed order next week.”

When asked by Cole Simons, the opposition One Bermuda Alliance leader, if contributions will increase in the next year, the Premier said that the methodology used to calculate contributions was “a problem that is going on that we all know has to be fixed”.

He added: “We said that we were going to tackle it in our 2020 election manifesto and we will do it. It is necessary to ensure that our pension system is sound and strong for the future.

“The fact is, on the contribution level we are going to make sure that contributions and social insurance are fair.

“In this country there is someone who makes $500,000 pays the exact same amount as someone who makes $50,000 – one of the only countries in the world.

“We will change and fix that. There may be some people who are paying less in contributions but there will certainly be some people paying more.”