§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many current men and women pensioners derive no benefit from the 1975 pensions scheme; how many derive less than £5 per week additional benefit; and how he expects these figures to alter in the next five years;
(2) how many men and women are benefiting from the 1975 earnings-related pension scheme; and what is the average weekly addition paid for both men and women.
§ Dr. BoysonAt 31 March 1983, the latest date for which information is available, the numbers of retirement pensioners with and without earnings-related additional component under the 1975 scheme were as follows:
Men Women Number of pensioners with additional component* 603,080 223,360 Number of pensioners with no additional component 2,609,380 5,838,030 Numbers with less than £5 a week in additional component* 540,720 210,820 Average amount of additional component payable (£ per week) 2.42 1.88 * Including those with no entitlement to basic pension. The numbers with no earnings-related additional component to pension can be expected to fall to about 7½ million over the next five years. No precise forecast is possible of the change over that period in the numbers entitled to additional component of less than £5 a week. The actual number could increase, but it will represent a smaller proportion of the total number entitled to additional component.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services for what purposes his Department advises 39W employers of any employee who has reached pensionable age; and what is the estimated annual staff and administrative cost of so doing.
§ Dr. BoysonStatutory sick pay is not payable after minimum pension age and it is open to an employer to ask the Department to disclose information to enable him to determine an employee's entitlement to such payments. As part of the contracting-out arrangements under the new pension scheme occupational pension schemes are notified by the Department as to their liability for guaranteed minimum pension for a scheme member reaching pension age and the date from which this is payable.
When people reach pension age and notify the Department that they will be continuing in employment, they are sent an age exception certificate to hand to their employer to ensure that contributions are no longer deducted from their earnings. If the Department's records show subsequently that primary contributions have been paid for an employee who is over pension age, or otherwise not liable, the Department notifies the employer that the employee is not liable for contributions on earnings after a given date.
These arrangements form only a small part of the general arrangements for establishing pension entitlement and contribution liability and it would require disproportionate cost to estimate the staff and administrative cost involved.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people he estimates to be receiving occupational pensions at the latest date; and how this figure compares with 1980, 1978 and 1974, respectively.
§ Dr. BoysonFigures are not available for the years quoted. The latest estimates are contained in the 1979 survey of occupational pension schemes by the Government Actuary. These show that the number of people receiving occupational pensions were as follows:
Year Million 1979 3.7 1975 3.4 1971 2.9
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people he estimates to be paying into pension schemes which are contracted out of the state scheme.
§ Dr. BoysonIn 1980–81, the latest year for which figures are available, about 10.4 million employees were in contracted-out employment. This figure excludes married women paying National Insurance contributions at the reduced rate.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the effects of long-term unemployment on the pension entitlements of men over 50 years.
§ Dr. BoysonUnemployed men between 50 and 60 who claim at the unemployment benefit office as being available for employment receive contribution credits to safeguard their entitlement to basic retirement pension. Unemployed men aged between 60 and 65 will automatically receive such credits without needing to claim. The earnings related additional component to40W pension will be payable in respect of any years since 1978 in which earnings satisfy the minimum conditions for eligibility.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women of pensionable age have husbands below pensionable age; and what would be the cost of paying them either a single person's pension or the addition for dependent wives.
§ Dr. BoysonThere are approximately 900,000 women of pensionable age with husbands below pensionable age. The net annual cost of paying them a single person's pension or the addition for dependent wives would be £1 billion and £½ billion respectively, taking account of benefit already received by or in respect of these women.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proposals he has for closing the gap in pension income between earlier and more recent retirement pensioners.
§ Dr. BoysonI have no plans at present but I intend to keep the question under review.