§ Mr. Bidwellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the fact that the present value of the national State retirement pension has been seriously eroded by the high rate of inflation, if he will now consider supporting a six-monthly review.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNo. Uprating retirement pensions at six-monthly intervals would involve considerable additional expenditure and administrative work which is out of the question in the present economic situation.
The proposed increase of 16.5 per cent. from November 1980 takes full account of the estimated movement of prices since the increase in November 1979, which gave retirement pensions their highest ever purchasing power.