§ Mr. Hall-Davisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the total number of national insurance retirement pensions currently in payment and the number of supplementary benefits;
(2) how many graduated national insurance pensions are currently being paid; and what is the highest level of pension in payment and the average of all payments.
§ Mr. Deakins, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 16th February 1977; Vol. 926, c. 221–2], gave the following information:
It is estimated that in November 1976 there were about 8.4 million retirement pensions in payment. In December 1976 there were about 1.7 million claimants in receipt of supplementary pension, of whom all but about 90,000 also received a national insurance retirement pension.
The estimated number of graduated retirement pensions in payment in November 1976 was about 3.7 million. The 266W highest graduated pension was £2.58 a week, and the average was 37p.