§ 17. Mr. R. Adamsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, it is estimated, would be the annual cost over the next 10 years of reducing every year, by one, two and five years, respectively, the age limit for the payment of post-war credits.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerNo direct information as the ages of holders of post-war credits is available. It is, therefore, not possible to give more than rough estimates of the effect over the next 10 years of a progressive reduction in the age for repayment. These estimates are as follow:
- (1) If the age for repayment of post-war credits were reduced every year by one year the annual rate of repayment which is at present about £16 million, would be increased immediately to £32 million and thereafter would increase slightly each year, reaching a figure of about £37 million by the tenth year.
- (2) If the age limit were reduced each year by two years the rate of repayment would be increased to £49 million, rising to about £57 million by the fifth year and then falling again to about £40 million in the tenth year.
118 - (3) An annual reduction of five years in the age limit would increase the rate of repayment to £100 million and to rather more than that for the following three years. Thereafter the repayments would fall but by the end of the sixth year the amount still outstanding would be sufficiently small to be disposed of in a single operation.