§ Mr. Harry Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Social Service by how much the purchasing power of the increase paid to pensioners and others has decreased as a result of inflation since 4 May to the present time.
§ Mr. PrenticeIf the hon. Member has in mind the increases in pensions and other benefits which my right hon. Friend announced on 13 June—[Vol. 968, c. 437–58]—and which came into payment this week, the answer to his question is that they have not lost any purchasing power as a result of inflation since May. The new rates of benefit take fully into account the expected rate of inflation over the 12 months from November 1978.
If, however, he has in mind the increase in pensions and other benefits 576W introduced by the previous Administration in November 1978, then, on the basis of the increase in the general index of retail prices between May 1979 and prices between May 1979 and September 1979, the latest date for which a figure is available, the purchasing power of those benefits has fallen by 7.4 per cent. since May this year.