§ Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the present value of the retirement pension compared with 10s. in 1938, 26s. in October, 1964, £3 7s. 6d. in May, 1963 and £4 in March, 1965.
§ Mr. EnnalsAs measured by changes in the Consumer Price Index from 1938 to 1947 and by changes in the Index of Retail Prices from 1947 to mid-February, 1969, the present equivalent of the 1938 retirement pension rate of 10s. is £2 2s. The equivalents of the rates in payment for a single person in October, 1946, May, 1963, and March, 1965, are £3 1s., £4 4s. and £4 14s. 6d. respectively compared with the present rate of £4 10s.
§ Mr. Pounderasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been 284W the fall, up to the end of February, 1969, in the value of the State retirement pension in real terms since the date of the last increase.
§ Mr. EnnalsMeasured by the Index of Retail Prices, the purchasing power of the retirement pension since its last increase in October, 1967, has fallen by just under 8½ per cent. Its present value in real terms is still some 11 per cent. above the current equivalent of the pension in payment in October, 1964.