§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the value in real terms, in absolute figures and as a percentage of retirement and other state pensions and all other welfare and national insurance benefits and allowances paid in(a) November 1979 and (b) November 1990; and what were the actual figures for each benefit in each year.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe last uprating date for which such calculations were made was April 1990 and I refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 28 June 1990 at columns355–66 and the reply to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ashley) on 2 July 1989 at columns 455–56. The missing figures on the real level of invalidity pension are the same as those for retirement pension given in the earlier answer.
These answers do not cover income-related benefits such as income support. The levels of all income-related benefits payable in November 1979 and 1990 can be found in "Social Security Statistics" for 1980 and 1990 respectively, which are in the Library. Changes over time to the benefit system have rendered increasingly meaningless any attempt to make hypothetical comparisons between what people get now under the various income-related benefits and what they might generally have got under previous schemes.