§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list in respect of each financial year since 1990(a) the level of the basic retirement pension, (b) the level of that pension if upratings had been rounded to the nearest one pence and (c) his estimate of the net effect on public funds in each financial year if upratings had been carried out as in (b). [64141]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of means-tested benefit offsets for separate categories of pension. However, if all Basic State Pension rates were increased by 1 p, the magnitude of the change in expenditure on means-tested benefits would be around 28 per cent. of the increased expenditure on Retirement Pension.
Year Actual rate (£) Rate if rounded to nearest 1p since 1990–1991 (£) Gross RP cost of change in rounding convention (£ million) in 1998–1999 benefit rates 1990–91 46.90 46.90 0 1991–92 52.00 52.01 5 1992–93 54.15 54.14 -5 1993–94 56.10 56.09 -4 1994–95 57.60 57.60 0 1995–96 58.85 58.87 8 1996–97 61.15 61.17 8 1997–98 62.45 62.45 0 Notes:
1. Contributory benefits effects have been estimated by the Government Actuary's Department. Individuals who receive a combination of Category A and B pension are not included in this estimate.
2. Estimates are rounded to the nearest £1m. (+) denotes a cost and (-) denotes a saving.
3. These costings do not take into account any corresponding effects on linked benefits.