§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost of the administration of contribution records in order to determine basic state pension entitlement in the last year for which figures are available. [46962]
§ Mr. DenhamThere are 47 million active National Insurance Accounts that are maintained to enable determination of future benefit entitlement, including the State Retirement Pension. It is not possible to breakdown the overall cost of records maintenance in relation to a specific benefit.
The overall cost of record maintenance for 1997/98 was £48,659,344 (a unit cost of £1.04).
§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what discussions she has had since 1 May 1997 regarding means-testing of the basic state pension. [46004]
§ Mr. DenhamAll discussions on the basic State pension have taken as their starting point our manifesto commitment to maintain the basic State pension as the foundation of pension provision and to uprate it at least in line with prices. We will honour that commitment.