§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of whether it would be operationally feasible to base April benefit upratings on the level of prices in a later month than the previous September.
§ Mr. HagueThe retail prices index information for the previous September is used as the basis for uprating benefits as this is the latest information which can be reasonably taken into account when assessing the Department's future expenditure plans as part of the unified budget process. The use of the September figure also allows the timely award of the new rates from the date of the uprating. We have no plans to change the existing arrangements.