HL Deb 21 June 1972 vol 332 c220
LORD MAELOR

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Mr. Prior, the Minister for Agriculture, reflected the policy of the Government when he declared during the B.B.C. 24 Hours programme on June 14 that old age pensions would be increased annually.

LORD ABERDARE

Yes, my Lords.

LORD MAELOR

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply—a very exhaustive one! We can now declare to our old-age pensioners that it will not be an annual review but an actual annual increase in old age pensions. Is that true?

LORD ABERDARE

My Lords, the actual undertaking of the Government is to review pensions annually and at least to preserve the value of the basic pension and related benefits. But for many years past this has meant an increase in the pension, and I should think that this may well be so in the immediate future.

LORD LEATHERLAND

My Lords, do we gather from that reply that inflation will still be in full blast when the next review takes place?

LORD ABERDARE

My Lords, we have had inflation for a very long time. I do not know what the noble Lord means by "in full blast". In any case, even if the increase were not to keep pace with the rise in prices, we should hope that it might be possible to increase the pension to keep it more in line with earnings.