§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the effect on(a) gross expenditure on retirement pensions, (b) income tax revenues and (c) expenditure on means-tested benefits of raising the basic state pension to the level of income support, with the pension rising with age to reflect the current structure of age-related premiums, but not to reflect premiums for disabilities or other additional needs. [34127]
§ Mr. DenhamIt is estimated that the gross cost of raising the basic pension to the level of the income support age-related premiums would be £3.4 billion in 1998–99. Income tax revenue would be increased by an estimated £0.2 billion. Information on income related benefit offsets is not available.
Notes:
1. Gross costs have been provided by Government Actuary's Department (GAD). A pensioner with a category A pension receives an additional amount equal to the difference between RP and IS for a single person. A married woman with a category B pension receives an additional amount equal to the difference between RP and the additional amount paid to an IS couple above that paid to a single person.2. Tax effects provided by Inland Revenue.3. The Family Resources Survey does not hold sufficiently detailed information on categories of pension to allow a consistent estimate of income related benefit offsets to be provided.4. Costs rounded to the nearest £100 million.
§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners were in receipt of payments from occupational pensions in 1995; and what was the average payment received. [34705]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 16 March 1998]: It is estimated that 4.9 million pensioner couples or single pensioners were in receipt of payments from occupational pensions in 1995–96, receiving average payments of £78.70 (mean) and £44.10 (median).
Notes:
1. This estimate is based on the Pensioners' Income Series. A pensioner couple is defined as a couple where the man is over State Pension Age.485W2. In the Pensioners' Incomes Series estimates of the number of pensioner units in receipt of occupational pension income are based upon data from the Family Expenditure Survey which is adjusted to reflect extrapolations of the number of recipients in the Government Actuary's Department Survey of Occupational Pensions (1987 and 1991).3. Incomes are in pounds per week at July 1995 prices, and are rounded to the nearest 10 pence.4. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 0.05 million.5. The Pensioners' Income Series 1995–96 is to be re-issued, as it contains a number of inaccuracies identified since publication. The figures above are not affected by these inaccuracies. However, other information concerning receipt of occupational pensions is affected.