§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 4 May,Official Report, columns 307–8, what is the total number of United Kingdom expatriates receiving uprated United Kingdom pensions in (a) Spain and (b) Portugal; which Government pay the cost of these upratings;and what considerations underlie the different treatment of pensioners in those two countries and in the four Commonwealth countries referred to in his answer. [24286]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotIn January 1995, UK pensions were in payment to 28,097 beneficiaries in Spain and 3,208 in Portugal. The entire cost of these pensions is met by the UK Government. Uprated pensions became payable in Spain in April 1975, and in Portugal in October 1979, by virtue of reciprocal social security agreements with those countries. Since 1 January 1986, uprated UK pensions have been payable in Spain and Portugal under the EC regulations on social security for migrant workers. The UK has no similar agreements with the four Commonwealth countries referred to in my previous reply.