§ Ms. CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that invalidity benefit should be payable up to the same age for men and women.
§ Mr. ScottThe age limits for invalidity benefit coincide with the age up to which people can earn increments to their retirement pensions. This is 64 for women and 69 for men.
§ Ms. CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the differential rate of percentage increases of national insurance benefits, including invalidity benefit and retirement pensions and income support; and what assessment he has made of how many pensioners are worse off as a result of these differentials.
§ Miss WiddecombeOur policy is to maintain the value in line with prices of retirement pension and other contributory benefits for people over state pension age. This April they received an increase in line with the retail prices index. Less well-off pensioners on income support received increases nearly 3 per cent. higher than this. All pensioners therefore benefited from the uprating.
§ Ms. CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the rule that if claimants are in receipt of the higher rate of income support, because of a previous entitlement to invalidity benefit, and if they lose that right to income support because of a rise in invalidity benefit, their claim is deemed to be interrupted and they lose any entitlement to the higher rate of income support, even though the income support may rise and they may again be entitled to claim it.
§ Mr. BurtA person who is in receipt of invalidity benefit and makes a claim for income support will be eligible for the disability premium or higher pensioner premium — depending on age—whether or not they have been entitled to income support and eligible for the premium in the past. The hon. Member may wish to write to me if she has an individual case in mind.