§ Mr. FryTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many are currently receiving the state retirement pensions; and of them, how many(a) are in receipt of income support, (b) are in receipt of income support but do receive some housing benefit, (c) pay no income tax but receive no income support and (d) pay income tax on declarable incomes of less than £1,000 above their tax threshold.
§ Mr. ScottNearly 9.8 million pensioners are currently in receipt of the state retirement pension. As at May 1987 there were approximately 1.8 million people of pensionable age in receipt of supplementary benefit. (Income support replaced supplementary benefit in April 1988 and figures relating specifically to income support are not yet available). As at September 1987 there were approximately 1.5 million people of pensionable age in receipt of both supplementary benefit and housing benefit.
Approximately 2.5 million retirement pensioners pay no income tax and are not entitled to income support. Approximately 0.5 million pensioner units (A pensioner unit is a single person over state pension age, or a couple 453W where the husband is aged over 65) pay income tax on declarable incomes of less than £1,000 above their tax threshold.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is, for each year since 1974, the total number of pensioners in the United Kingdom; and how many of them live in Scotland.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe information requested is as follows:
Numbers of pensioners resident in (i) United Kingdom and (ii) Scotland in receipt of a basic retirement pension.
Year United Kingdom (thousands) Scotland (thousands) 1974 8,098 718 1975 8,257 732 1976 8,413 749 1977 8,522 759 1978 8,648 766 1979 8,774 776 1980 8,926 782 1981 9,068 794 1982 9,149 796 1983 9,227 800 1984 9,241 800 1985 9,415 812 1986 9,517 816 1987 9,553 816 1988 9,539 815 Note: The figures exclude pensioners overseas and those in receipt of graduated pension and additional pension only.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is, for each year since 1974, the number of pensioners who received(a) only the basic pension and (b) more than one pension.
§ Mr. Peter LloydRecord of pensioners in receipt of basic pension only are available from 1986. For each year since 1986, the information is as follows:—
Number September 1986: 2,225,700 September 1987: 2,422,840 March 1988: 2,294,570 The table shows the numbers of pensioners who in addition to their basic pension have a guaranteed minimum pension, additional pension or graduated pension. However, there will be a number of pensioners who will appear in more than one category, eg a pensioner with graduated pension may also have entitlement to additional pension and/or guaranteed minimum pension.
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Year Graduated pension (thousands) Net additional persion (thousands) Guaranteed minimum pension (thousands) 1974 2,873 — — 1975 3,225 — — 1976 3,578 — — 1977 3,892 — — 1978 4,201 — — 1979 4,501 81 50 1980 4,841 277 165 1981 5,149 477 283 1982 5,386 660 392 1983 5,622 883 516 1984 5,773 1,010 581
Year Graduated pension (thousands) Net additional persion (thousands) Guaranteed minimum pension (thousands) 1985 6,124 1,435 839 1986 6,382 1,788 1,022 1987 6,575 2,077 1,188 1988 6,649 2,204 1,267 Note: Overseas cases are included.
§ Mr. Graham AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate(a) the number of pensioners in Nottingham, (b) the number and percentage of those who have no income apart from the state pension and (c) the number and percentage of those who have no income apart from the state pension and income support.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation is not available about the number of pensioners in any particular locality, nor about the other income of beneficiaries receiving retirement pension only. Information about the number of pensioners in Nottingham who have no other income apart from retirement pension is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make the level of payment of retirement pension independent of the day in the week on which pension is drawn.
§ Mr. Peter LloydPensioners receive the full amount of their pension entitlement regardless of the day of the week on which payment is made.