§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the capital limits for supplementary pensions for each year since 1980, in cash terms and in real terms, using 1980 as a base year and the change in the retail price index over that period.
§ Mr. PortilloThe information is provided in the following tables.
Supplementary Benefit Capital Limit Date1 £ November 1980 2,000 November 1981 2,000 November 1982 2,500 November 1983 3,000 November 1984 3,000 November 1985 3,000 July 1986 3,000 April 1987 3,000 1 Dates of uprating of benefits. 467W
£2,000 limit in November 1980 expressed in real terms1 2 Period £ November 1980 to November 1981 2,239 November 1980 to November 1982 2,379 November 1980 to November 1983 2,494 November 1980 to November 1984 2,618 November 1980 to November 1985 2,761 November 1980 to November 1986 2,807 November 1980 to November 1987 2,930 1 Based on the movement in the retail price index (all items) between dates shown.
2 Increase in retail price index (all items) for period November 1980 to April 1987=46.5 per cent.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently receiving retirement pension payments by means of automatic credit transfer to a bank or building society account.
§ Mr. PortilloAbout 1.25 million. About 31 per cent. of newly retiring pensioners choose this method of payment.
§ Mr. Robin Cookasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1973 the value of the basic state pension (a) at 1987 prices and (b) as a percentage of average male earnings.
§ Mr. ScottThe information requested is in the table. Column(c) shows the basic retirement pension for a couple as a percentage of average net earnings for a married male manual worker without children.
Basic retirement pension since October 1973 at April 1987 prices and as a percentage of net average male manual earnings (a) (b) (c) Retirement pension (couple) Value at 1987 prices Percentage of net earnings £ £ October 1973 12.50 51.93 41.3 July 1974 16.00 58.57 47.3 April 1975 18.50 57.55 46.7 November 1975 21.20 59.04 49.1 November 1976 24.50 59.34 50.6 November 1977 28.00 60.00 50.8 November 1978 31.20 61.88 48.9 November 1979 37.30 63.02 48.4 November 1980 43.45 63.66 49.7 November 1981 47.35 61.96 50.9 November 1982 52.55 64.72 53.1 November 19831 54.50 64.02 51.3 November 1984 57.30 64.14 49.6 November 1985 61.30 65.06 49.9 July 1986 61.95 64.67 47.8 April 1987 63.25 63.25 45.7 1 There is a small discontinuity between the figures for November 1982 and November 1983 caused by a change in the method of calculation of average earnings.
§ Mr. Robin Cookasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the rates for the basic state pension and other long-term national insurance benefits at April 1988 if the uprating formula of the 1975 Act had been applied in every year since 1979.
§ Mr. ScottThe Social Security Act 1975 required pensions and other long-term benefits to be increased by the higher of the increase in either prices or earnings, but did not provide a formula for the period over which the increase was to be measured or to take effect, nor any requirement to measure the increase either historically or on a forecast basis. Moreover, the Secretary of State was given freedom to estimate the changes in prices and earnings as he saw fit. In view of the discretion inherent in the original wording of the 1975 Act, which was interpreted in different ways during the 1970s, it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of what pensions would be in April 1988 on this basis.
If retirement pension had however been increased in line with the movement of earnings between November 1978 and September 1986, the end of the uprating period 468W for the April 1987 uprating, a single person's retirement pension would have been £43.70 in April 1987 and a couple's pension £69.90. It is not yet possible to provide comparable figures for April 1988.