§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to review the system of flat rate compensation payment available to benefit claimants or as a result of the miscalculation of the retail prices index; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottWe have no plans to review the system of ex gratia payments we are making as a result of the error in the calculation of the RPI. We are making these payments, although we have no legal requirement to do so, to more than 12 million beneficiaries. The exercise is designed to combine as far as possible fairness with speed of payment.
§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to review the position of benefit claimants in receipt of more than one benefit for which a flat rate compensation payment is available after the miscalculation of the retail prices index who have received only one payment because they have a combined order book.
§ Mr. ScottWe have no plans to do so. Having two benefits combined on one order book does not automatically mean that the claimant has suffered twice from the error in the retail prices index. The ex-gratia special payments fully compensate the great majority of people who have combined order books for two benefits, including the least well-off pensioners with supplementary pensions. Less than 10 per cent. of people with combined books will be undercompensated for the retail prices index error because of the method of payment.