§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what additional support he is proposing to give to pensioners.
§ Mr. NewtonThe national insurance pension will go up in April by £5.10 a week for a single person and £8.15 for a couple. In addition, following the £200 million special increase in income support premiums for less-well-off older and disabled pensioners which took place in October 1989, the basic pensioner premium is being increased an April by more than a normal uprating, to give real extra help totalling some £80 million to another 400,000 pensioners aged 60 to 74 directly through income support, and well over £1.5 million through housing benefit and community charge benefit. Less-well-off pensioners are also the principal group of beneficiaries who will be helped by the April increase of well over £200 million in income support limits for those in residential care or nursing homes.