§ Mr. Deanasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what weekly rate of retirement pension would have been earned actuarily by the joint contributions paid by an insured person and his employer if such contributions had been paid since the start of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, and since the start of the present National Insurance scheme in July, 1948, respectively.
§ Mr. PentlandThe amounts of the weekly contributions for pensions—including, since April, 1961, the maximum graduated contributions and an estimated allocation to pensions from the flat-rate contributions—accumulated at 3½ per cent. interest from January, 1926, or July, 1948, until April, 1965, could have provided, for a single man 147W then retiring at minimum pension age with average life expectation, a retirement pension of about 24s. 6d. a week or 20s. 6d. a week respectively; for a woman the corresponding figures would be 15s. 6d. and 13s. But, as explained 148W in my reply of 5th February to the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Blaker), this is not the way in which the retirement pensions of the National Insurance scheme are computed or financed.