§ 33. Mr. Clemitsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why as shown in table 2.12 of "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1979–80 and 1980–82" Cmnd.7439, the projected increase in retirement pension between 1979–80 and 1982–83 is less in percentage terms than the increase in the projected number of recipients of retirement pensions.
601W
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThere are two main factors which account for the fact that expenditure on retirement pensions shown in line 1 of table 2.12 of Cmnd. 7439 rises more slowly over the period than the forecast average number of beneficiaries set out in the table on pages 150 and 151 of the White Paper.
First, following the abolition of the married woman's contribution half-test for those retiring after April 1979, the figures allow for the payment of the reduced rate pension that some women will be entitled to on retirement.
Secondly, the conventions under which table 2.12 is prepared, which are set out in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the programme text, result in the increase in expenditure that will arise from the Government's statutory obligations on the uprating of benefits being reflected not in the retirement pension line of the table but in the final line "Allowance for uprating improvements" and in the programme total.
A broad indication of the projected growth in expenditure on retirement pensions can be derived from the figures given for expenditure on the elderly in the table on page 153 of the White Paper.