§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of income support for the elderly in the case of single persons and married couples with no other income; what is the basic pension; how much income tax would be payable in each case; and what518W would be the saving to the revenue if the age allowance for income tax were no higher than is required to relieve income support from liability to tax.
§ Mr. Norman LamontIn April 1988, supplementary benefit was replaced by income support.
The rates of income support for the elderly who receive no other income are:
£ Single persons age 60 or over 44.05 or 46.45 Married couples age 60 or over 67.70 or 70.05 The higher rates are payable to certain disabled people and to those age 80 and over.
The basic retirement pensions in 1988–89 are:
£ Single person 41.15 Married couple 65.90 Income support paid to the elderly is not taxable and an elderly person with no income other than the basic retirement pension would pay no income tax.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the maximum value in cash terms per single person and married couple of the additional income-tax age allowance for those aged over 80 years; and what is his estimate of the cash and percenage increase in income support which could be paid in each case by abolishing the additional age allowance for such tax units and targeting it on those now drawing income support.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe age allowances for those aged 80 and over are worth a maximum of 63p per week for a single person and 82p per week for a married couple compared with the age allowances for those aged 65 to 79. The extra cost of these allowances is of the order of £10 million per annum. Expenditure on income support is currently in excess of £8.5 billion a year, and therefore the addition of a further £10 million would increase benefits payable by about 0.1 per cent.