§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to quantify the contribution of the state earnings-related pension scheme to pensioners' incomes derived from(a) social security benefit and (b) occupational pensions in each year since 1978–79.
§ Miss WiddecombeAdministrative data on the average amount of additional pension (SERPS) has been collected since 1978–79, but this is not linked to data on other incomes apart from retirement pension and other benefits paid with it. Questions were added to the 1987 and subsequent annual family expenditure surveys asking for information on the amount of net additional pension (SERPS) paid to each individual and their contracted-out deductions to try to expand the details available on pensioners' incomes. So far, the proportion of those pensioners able to respond accurately to these questions does not appear to be sufficient to estimate the contribution of SERPS to pensioners' total incomes. There is no way of discovering this contribution in any earlier years.