§ 44. Mr. Shinwellasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will state the number of persons in receipt of old-age pensions in the Parliamentary division of Easington who are receiving allowances under the National Assistance scheme.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe National Assistance Board regrets that this information is not available as the Parliamentary division of Easington is served by three of the Board's offices which also serve areas in other divisions.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs it not important that this information should be made available, even if it means that the right hon. Gentleman has to inquire from the adjoining office, so that we might know how many old-age pensioners have had to claim National Assistance because their pension is somewhat low?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the adjoining offices also serve areas outside the right hon. Gentleman's constituency as well as inside it, I am afraid that the resulting figures would not help him.
§ 46. Miss Herbisonasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many old-age pensioners were in receipt of National Assistance in January, 1952, in January, 1957, respectively.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed—
§ Miss HerbisonOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The two words "in Scotland" should be included in my Question.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed by the National Assistance Board that in December, 1951, and December, 1956, the nearest dates for which the information is available, the numbers of weekly assistance grants paid as supplements to retirement pension were respectively 767,000 and 927,000, and as supplements to noncontributory old-age pension 124,000 and 152,000. Some of the grants provided for the requirements of a household with more than one pensioner.
In view of what the hon. Lady said, I should point out that these are, of course, United Kingdom figures.
§ Miss HerbisonPerhaps the Minister will let me have the figures for Scotland? Is it not perfectly clear from these figures that there is a definite need for an increase in old-age pensions in the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe lesson to be learned from these figures depends entirely on those selected. If the hon. Lady had selected those for 1954 or 1953, they would have looked quite different. I will certainly try to see if the separate Scottish figures can be extracted, and if they can, I will send them to her.
47. Mr. Jenningsasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will give the dates and amounts of increases granted to old-age pensioners since July, 1945, with the parallel increases in the cost of living; and what further proposals he has under consideration.
| Contributory old age and retirement pension | Cost of living, as shown by the Cost of Living Index to July, 1947, and Retail Prices Index from that date | ||||||
| Single person | Married couple | ||||||
| Rate | As per cent, of July, 1945 Rate | Rate | As per cent, of July, 1945 Rate | ||||
| s. | d. | s. | |||||
| July, 1945 | … | 10 | 0 | 100 | 20 | 100 | 100 |
| October, 1946 | … | 26 | 0 | 260 | 42 | 210 | 98 |
| September, 1951 | … | 30 | 0 | 300 | 50 | 250 | 125 |
| September, 1952 | … | 32 | 6 | 325 | 54 | 270 | 140 |
| April, 1955 | … | 40 | 0 | 400 | 65 | 325 | 144 |