Pensioners (Benefits and Allowances)

HC Deb 04 December 2001 vol 376 cc200-1W

Lynne Jones

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost is of each(a) tax allowance and (b) benefit given to pensioners in the current financial year; and what assessment he has made of the cost of each retirement allowance and benefit for future years (i) at current prices and (ii) in total as a percentage of gross domestic product. [19779]

Dawn Primarolo

Estimated costs of tax expenditures and reliefs are given in Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs, published on 27 November 2001. This is available in the Library of the House.

The information on benefits can be found in the following table:

£ billion (cash prices)1
		UK figures
	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Free TV licences	0.3	0.4	0.4
Total pensioner benefits as percentage of GDP	5.0	5.0	5.0
1To nearest £100 million
2MIG/PC and winter fuel payments are available to some non-pensioners, ie men aged 60–64.