§ Mr. Gregory CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the change in value of the state retirement pension in the last 10 years. [113493]
§ Maria EagleThe level of the basic State Pension is increased each year to ensure that, as a minimum, it retains its value in relation to prices. Since April 2001 we have uprated basic State Pension by more than the annual Retail Prices Index (RPI), and for the future lifetime of this Parliament we are committed to increasing basic State Pension by the higher of 2.5 per cent. and RPI. The change in value is to take account of the increase.
798WDetailed information is contained in table 5.1 of the DWP publication "Abstract of Statistics: 2002 Edition" a copy of which is available in the Library or can be obtained via the DWP website—www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/ asd 1 /abstract/Abstract2002