HC Deb 01 March 1973 vol 851 cc426-9W
Mr. Dell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in respect of minimum personal pensions at retirement, under Clause 51(7) of the Social Security Bill, tables comparable with Table 1 and Table 2 in Appendix E of Command Paper No. 5142 which will show minimum personal pensions at retirement on different assumptions regarding age of entry, weekly earnings and both assuming constant earnings, and real earnings rising at 3 per cent. per annum, and on such other assumptions as seem to him appropriate.

Mr. Dean

The tables are set out below. The amounts of pension are based on the percentages of reckonable earnings in Clause 51(7) of the Social Security Bill which apply to pensions subject to increases in payment complying with the provisions of Clause 54. This is appropriate for the purposes of comparison with benefits in the reserve pension scheme, which will similarly be subject to increases in payment-by the addition of bonuses.

TABLE 2
ASSUMING REAL EARNINGS RISING AT 3 PER CENT. PER ANNUM*
Age on birthday in tax year of entry Weekly pension for person whose earnings at entry are Pension as percentage of earnings at retirement
£10 £20 £30 £40 £48
£ £ £ £ £
MEN:
55 1.0 2.0 2.9 3.9 4.7 8
45 2.0 4.1 6.1 8.2 9.8 12
35 3.3 6.5 9.8 13.0 15.6 14
25 4.7 9.5 14.2 19.0 22.8 15
22 5.3 10.5 15.8 21.0 25.2 16
WOMEN:
50 0.7 1.4 2.1 2.8 3.3 5
40 1.4 2.8 4.3 5.7 6.8 8
30 2.3 4.6 6.8 9.1 10.9 10
25 2.8 5.5 8.3 11.1 13.3 10
22 3.1 6.2 9.3 12.4 14.8 11
* The amounts of pension have been calculated on the assumption that earnings increase at 6 per cent. per annum and prices increase at 3 per cent. per annum but have been adjusted to show the amounts in terms of constant prices.
The tables are based on the assumption that the person would be in recognised pensionable employment continuously from the beginning of the income tax year in which the age shown in the first column is attained up to the end of the income tax year preceding age 65 for a man and age 60 for a woman.

Mr. Dell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will state, on such assumptions as seem to him appropriate, what would have been the minimum personal pension at retirement under Clause 5(7) of the Social Security Bill of a man and of a woman who retired on 31st December 1972 at 65 and 60 years of age, respectively, had the Social Security Bill been in operation at that date of their retirement for 10, 20, 30 and 40 years, respectively, and they had earned average earnings throughout those periods; and what per-

Minimum personal pension (subject to increases after award) Pensions as proportion of final earnings
Period Bill in operation (years) Men £ per week Women £ per week Men Per cent. Women Per cent.
10 2.19 0.76 6 4
20 3.39 1.20 9 7
30 4.05 1.45 11 8
40 4.41 1.56 12 9
Note: For the purpose of the percentages in the last two columns of the table "final earnings" have been taken as the average earnings in October 1972 of £35.82 for men and £18.30 for women.

Mr. Dell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will state, on such assumptions as seem to him appropriate, what will be the minimum personal pension at retirement under Clause 51(7) of the Social Security Bill of a man and of a woman who retire, at age 65 and 60, respectively, 10, 20, 30 and 40 years after the Social Security Bill comes into operation and who earn today's average earnings throughout those

centage those minimum personal pensions would be of their final earnings.

Mr. Dean

On the basis of earnings at the levels shown by the Department of Employment's regular inquiries into the average earnings of full-time adult manual workers in manufacturing and certain other industries, and taking the number of years that the Bill is assumed to have been in operation as the number of complete tax years up to 5th April 1972 when minimum pension would cease to accrue for a person retiring at 31st December 1972, the amounts are as follows:

periods; and what percentage those minimum personal pensions would be of their final earnings.

Mr. Dean

Figures for minimum personal pensions based on constant earnings at the level of current national average earnings can be found by interpolation from table 1 of my reply to another of the right hon. Member's Questions today. The pensions as a proportion of final earnings would be as given in the last column of that table.

Mr. Dell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assumption he made as to total contributions by employer and employee necessary to produce a preserved pension of not less than £125 per annum in the example given by him in his answer to a Question by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead on 22nd February 1973, column 187.

Mr. Dean

No assumption as to total contributions was necessary. The figure of £125 per annum derived from the pension scale and other assumptions given in items 1 and 2 of the reply to the earlier Question.