§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of re-establishing the link of pensions to the rise in earnings.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardIn 1988–89 the cost of restoring the link between retirement pension and average earnings would have been £3.58 billion.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what are the obstacles to reaching a reciprocal agreement which would allow indexing of British pensions abroad in each of the countries where unindexed pensions are paid;
(2) what would be the net cost of providing a reciprocal agreement which would allow the uprating of British pensions abroad in each of the countries where pensions are paid but not currently indexed.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardBritish pensions are payable anywhere in the world, but pension increases are not paid in some 145 countries where British pensioners live. The primary obstacle to paying full British pensions in these countries is the high cost, which would be of the order of an additional £248 million a year at April 1989 rates of benefit and a further £38.2 million at the April 1990 uprating.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the net cost of uprating British pensions in each of the countries with which the United Kingdom has a reciprocal agreement to index pensions.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe current annual cost of British pensions in the 30 countries where pension252W increases are paid is of the order of £266 million. The cost of uprating these pensions in April 1990 will be about £20.2 million.