§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people have incomes of less than £150 a week; how many pensioners have incomes of less than £100 per week; and what would be the cost to the Exchequer if the tax threshold for(a) a married couple were raised to £120 per week, (b) single persons to £80 per week and (c) pensioners to £100 per week.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI have been asked to reply.
The latest year for which information from the family expenditure survey is available is 1985. In that year, about 13 million married couples and single people had gross incomes under £136 per week and, of these, about 3 million were pensioners with incomes under £91 per week. These levels of income are broadly equivalent in real terms to those specified in the question for 1988. Gross income includes all sources of income, including social security benefits, and is before deduction of income tax or national insurance.
The direct revenue cost in a full year at 1988–89 levels of income increasing personal tax allowances, above the levels proposed for 1988–89, to the levels specified in the question are estimated to be as follows:
£ billion (a) married man's allowance, including age allowances, to £6,240 6 (b) single allowance, including wife's earned income allowance and age allowances, to £4,160 5 (c) further increase in single age allowances to £5,200 0.2