§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been the percentage increases in pensions since 1st August 1974; what has been the increase in the cost of fuel for pensioners; and what is her estimate of the increase in expenditure by the end of March 1976.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe increase in the retirement pension since August 1974 for a married couple has been 32½ per cent. The increase in the pensioner index taken as a whole for the period up to December 1975 was 33.1 per cent. for a two-pensioner household, with the fuel element in that index which has a weighting of 131 in 1,000 increasing by 44.8 per cent. The answer to the third part of my244W hon. Friend's Question is "less than 1 per cent.".