§ Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are in place for the payment of(a) state pension and (b) other benefits to UK senior citizens who retire to (i) another EU state, (ii) Norway, (iii) Switzerland, (iv) the USA and (v) Australia; what the current value is of a UK state pension paid to an individual who retired to each of these countries in (A) 1985, (B) 1995 and (C) 2000; and if he will estimate the cumulative difference in the total value of pensions such an individual would have received in each of the stated areas compared to an individual who retired in the UK. [184368]
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§ Malcolm WicksThe Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows:
Payment of a UK State Pension is not affected by a person's country of residence during retirement. However, where a pensioner lives outside the UK, the State Pension is not uprated unless he or she is living in a country in respect of which EC legislation or a reciprocal agreement provides for uprating.
The European social security co-ordinating regulations contain rules which set out whether UK benefits are paid in another Member State (Regulation 1408/71). From June 2002 Switzerland is also covered by these regulations. UK pensioners who live in another Member State or Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland or Switzerland may receive UK benefits there. This will depend on whether the benefits are covered by the coordinating regulations, the nationality of the person and which state they are living in.
The table shows the cumulative value, from 1 April 1985, 1995 and 2000 respectively to the end of the 2003/04 financial year, of upratings of a full basic State Pension (excluding age additions) which a person would have received if:
a) he remained entitled to a full basic State Pension; and
b) he was continuously resident in a country in respect of which either legislation or a reciprocal agreement provided for the uprating of State Pension.
£ Date Rate of full basic State Pension per week Cumulative value of year on basic State pension 1 April 1985 35.80 20,467.95 1 April 1995 57.60 4,626.35 1 April 2000 66.75 1,360.10