HC Deb 05 November 1997 vol 300 c247W
Dr. Vis

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security to which of the retail prices indexes pensions are linked; and on what basis the calculation is made. [13110]

Mr. Denham

We intend to honour our commitment to increase pensions at least in line with prices.

The all items Retail Prices Index for September will be used as a basis to increase Retirement Pension from 6 April 1998. The new rate of benefit will be calculated by uprating the current rate by the increase in the index and rounding the resulting sum to the nearest 5p. The value of the basic pension is being considered as part of our pensions review.