§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what would be the cost of increasing retirement pensions to £10 for a single person and £16.50 for a married couple;
(2) what would be the saving in supplementary benefits at the existing scales if the retirement pensions were £10 for a single person and £16.50 for a married couple.
§ Mr. DeanThe cost of increasing retirement pensions to this level would be about £1,200 million a year if other national insurance benefits were left unchanged. If supplementary pension rates were also unchanged, the cost of supplementary benefit would be reduced by about £200 million.