§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has of the average costs incurred weekly by pensioners in the United Kingdom as a whole, and in each of the Scottish and English regions, Wales and Northern Ireland, for(a) heating, (b) lighting and (c) travel; what are the estimated costs for pensioners in these areas over the winter months; and if he will give the figures for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 19 February 1991]: Information in respect of (a) and (b) is given in the table. Data on travel expenditure and fuel costs for 1986 could be calculated in the manner requested only at disproportionate cost. However, national data on the annual expenditure on travel by retired people is in the family expenditure survey, copies of which are available in the Library.
537W
Pensioners' Average Weekly Annual Expenditure 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 Fuel, light and power, £ per week Region Year 1984 1985 1987 1988 North 6.70 8.20 8.10 8.70 Yorkshire and Humberside 7.10 8.10 8.10 8.80 East Midlands 7.00 7.30 8.40 7.90 East Anglia 10.80 7.40 7.80 8.50 Greater London 6.80 7.90 8.60 8.90 South East exc London 8.20 9.10 8.80 8.60 South West 9.60 7.90 7.70 7.10 Wales 9.50 8.30 8.70 8.80 West Midlands 8.10 8.60 8.20 8.60 North West 6.70 9.10 8.20 9.70 Scotland 7.00 8.30 8.60 8.70 Northern Ireland 12.50 — 10.90 12.50 All United Kingdom 7.90 8.20 8.40 8.60
Pensioners' Average Weekly Winter Expenditure 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 Fuel, light and power, £ per week Region Year 1984 1985 1987 1988 North 6.80 8.50 9.80 8.70 Yorkshire and Humberside 8.60 8.10 8.30 9.80 East Midlands 7.90 7.80 10.20 8.30 East Anglia 10.00 8.90 9.30 9.40 Greater London 7.70 7.90 10.40 9.80 South East exc London 8.70 11.60 9.50 10.70 South West 9.80 9.00 8.90 8.10 Wales 9.60 9.00 9.90 9.90 West Midlands 8.20 9.30 9.50 10.40 North West 8.20 9.80 9.10 9.30 Scotland 8.10 8.80 10.30 9.80 Northern Ireland — — — — All United Kingdom 8.60 8.90 9.60 9.50 Notes:
1. The tables are based on data from the Family Expenditure Survey over the last five available years. The values shown are therefore estimates for the population as a whole.
2. Pensioner households are those occupied by one pensioner tax unit, the head of the tax unit is over pensionable age.
3. The regions shown are the standard breakdown, any further disaggregation could not be supported by sample sizes.
4. Information on heating and lighting can not be produced separately.
5. Winter has been defined as the period when the higher fuel bills might have to be paid; the five months from January to May.
6. On some occasions less than 25 households have provided survey information for Northern Ireland, in these cases the values have been omitted.
7. Figures will be affected by the receipt of rebates relating to earlier periods.
8. Figures are in current prices in each year with no adjustment for inflation.