§ Mr. Andrew BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the current total annual cost of paying pensions to British pensioners residing in Canada;
(2) what is the most recent estimate of the number of British pensioners residing in Canada.
§ Mr. JackThe total cost of paying retirement benefit pension and widow's benefit to British beneficiaries residing in Canada in the 12-month period from January to December 1990 was approximately £82 million. The number of British pensioners and widows residing there was just over 100,000 at 31 December 1990.
§ Mr. Andrew BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost of index-linking the pensions paid to British pensioners in Canada; and on what basis such an estimate is made.
§ Mr. JackTo pay full United Kingdom rates of retirement pension and widows benefit immediately would cost an estimated £119 million in the first year. This figure, which is at April 1991 rates of benefit, is based on the actual cost of uprating the benefits in payment to a 2.5 per cent. random sample of beneficiaries in receipt of United Kingdom retirement pensions and widow's benefit in Canada in March 1987. The base figure has been updated to take account of benefit increases since then and of the number of pensioners and widows resident in Canada at 31 December 1990. If comparable increases were made in respect of all countries where annual pension increases are not currently made, the total cost would be about £287 million in the first year.
§ Mr. Andrew BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of British state pensioners living overseas, by country, who are in receipt of(a) an index-linked British state pension and (b) a non-index-linked British state pension.
§ Mr. JackThe tables show the overseas countries where United Kingdom pensioners are known to live and the number of pensioners living there at 31 December 1990. Table(a) lists the countries where annual pension increases are paid, and table (b) where they are not.
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Table (A): number of retirement pensioners and widows benefit beneficiaries in overseas countries where annual increases are paid Country Number Alderney 464 Austria 3,086 Belgium 4,162 Bermuda 364 Cyprus 3,783 Denmark 439 Finland 85 France (including Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Reunion Island) 8,195 Germany 16,041 Gibraltar 435 Greece 1,208 Guernsey 5,007 Iceland 32 Irish Republic 62,240 Israel 2,681 Italy 13,916 Jamaica 15,378 Jersey 6,997
Country Number Luxembourg 89 Malta 1,917 Mauritius 180 Netherlands 3,474 Philippines 110 Portugal (including Madeira) 2,338 Sark 78 Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands) 22,593 Sweden 234 Switzerland 2,151 Turkey 341 United States of America 60,318 Yugoslavia 952 Total 239,288 473W
Table B: Number of retirement pensioners and widows benefit beneficiaries in overseas countries where annual pension increases are not paid Country Number Albania 5 Algeria 3 Andorra 164 Angola 2 Anguilla 77 Antigua and Barbuda 210 Argentina 191 Ascencion Island 4 Australia 138,668 Bahamas 145 Bahrain 23 Bangladesh 3,640 Barbados 1,432 Belize 20 Benin 2 Bolivia 8 Botswana 71 Brazil 241 Brunei 17 Bulgaria 8 Burma 3 Burundi 1 Canada 101,723 Cayman Islands 53 Central African Republic 3 Chile 74 China 17 Colombia 24 Cook Islands 6 Costa Rica 14 Cote D'Ivoire 1 Cuba 2 Czechoslovakia 46 Djibouti 64 Dominica, Commonwealth of 474 Dominican Republic 156 Ecuador 14 Egypt 53 El Salvador 1 Ethiopia 33 Falkland Islands and Dependencies 12 Faroe Islands 5 Fiji 34 Gambia 20 Ghana 74 Grenada 579 Guatemala 8 Guinea 1 Guyana 181 Haiti 1 Honduras 4 Hong Kong 581 Hungary 195 India 3,546 Indonesia 26 Iran 3
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Country Number Japan 60 Jordan 12 Kenya 498 Kiribati 3 Kuwait 7 Lebanon 16 Lesotho 8 Liberia 3 Libya 5 Macau 4 Madagascar 2 Malawi 72 Malaysia (including Sarawak) 93 Maldive Islands 2 Mali 1 Mauritania 1 Mexico 100 Monaco 212 Mongolia 1 Montserrat 268 Morocco 45 Mozambique 2 Namibia 15 Nauru 1 Nepal 15 Netherlands Antilles 7 New Zealand 30,494 Nicaragua 3 Nigeria 165 Norfolk Island 13 Norway 246 Oman 19 Pakistan 6,582 Panama 6 Papua New Guinea 13 Paraguay 3 Peru 48 Poland 2,375 Qatar 9 Romania 15 Rwanda 1 St. Helena and Dependencies 44 St. Kitts-Nevis 369 St. Lucia 688 St. Vincent 410 San Marino 2 Saudi Arabia 52 Senegal 8 Seychelles 40 Sierra Leone 51 Singapore 96 Solomon Islands 6 Somalia 99 South Africa 31,347 South Korea 3 Sri Lanka 181 Sudan 8 Swaziland 73 Syria 4 Tahiti 1 Tanzania 10 Thailand 33 Togo 111 Tonga 2 Trinidad and Tobago 4 Tunisia 397 Turks & Caicos Islands 9 Tuvalu 2 Uganda 22 United Arab Emirates 75 USSR 774 Uruguay 20 Vanuatu (New Hebrides) 2 Vatican City 1 Venezuela 38 Virgin Islands (British) 26 Western Samoa 12
Country Number Yemen Arab Republic (North) 1,633 Zaire 2 Zambia 174 Zimbabwe 4,902 Total 336,157 Notes:
a) There were a further 1,760 pensioners and widows whose country of residence was not known at the time the figures were prepared.
b) The tables include 10,584 pensioners and 359 widows to whom the Department is making payment on behalf of the Northern Ireland Authorities.