Court ruling could give monks and nuns new pension rights

Benedictine nun Sister Mary Scott, who runs the Outlton Abbey community near Stone, Staffordshire, is ill and wishes to retire on a state pension, according to local newspaper The Sentinel. She has never been paid a wage or paid any tax as Benedictine rules bar her from having any possessions of her own. Current DWP rules state that nuns and monks "who are fully maintained by their order" are not entitled to means-tested pension credit. Sister May has been granted permission by the Court of Appeal to have a full hearing of the case, the ruling from which could affect the pension ri...