§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to reduce the time between his uprating announcement and the first payment of the uprated benefits.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe uprating date was moved to April in 1986 to align changes in social security benefits as closely as possible with the tax year and the local authority financial year. In order to ensure that the new benefit rates are implemented smoothly and efficiently to all beneficiaries in April, it is still necessary to announce them the previous autumn.