§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will establish a separate cost of living index reflecting the spending patterns of retirement pensioners for the purposes of assessing future adjustments in the retirment pension; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 8 July 1985, c. 357]: Pensioner price indices are published in the Employment Gazette on a quarterly basis; they are specifically designed to show the impact of price changes on the expenditure of low-income pensioner households. These indices have tended to move broadly in line with the retail prices index, which is used for the annual uprating of retirement pensions.