§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the current cost of abolition of all standing charges for telephones, domestic electricity and gas bills for people over the state pension age for retirement and eligible for income support; and how the estimate was arrived at.
§ Mr. BurtIt is estimated that the total cost of abolishing gas and electricity standing charges for households where at least one person is over 60 and on income support, at 1992 levels of prices and incomes, would be approximately £150 million. The total cost of abolishing telephone rental charges for these households would be about El 10 million at 1991–92 levels of prices.
Notes:
1. The information provided is based upon imprecise data and a series of assumptions about the level of standing charges and the numbers of households with gas, electricity and telephones.
2. The estimate also takes no account of behaviourial and disincentive effects.