§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what would be the cost of increasing the basic state pension by £14 per week for single pensioners with full contribution records and £22 per week for pensioner couples with full contribution records, detailing separately the resulting increased taxation revenues and savings on means tested benefits expenditure. [75475]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe information is not available in the format requested. However, such information that is available is as follows: 315W
If the maximum rate payable of the Basic State Pension was increased by £14 to £89.50, the overall extra cost to the NI Fund in 2002–03 is estimated at around £5.6bn. This increase in the Basic State Pension would generate an estimated £650m in extra tax revenue and an estimated saving of around £1.3bn in income related benefits.Notes:1. The estimated extra cost to the NI Fund is based on March 2002 RP admin data and is for Great Britain only, rounded to the nearest £100m2. The estimate of the extra tax revenue has been provided by the Inland RevenueIncome related benefit savings have been estimated using the DWP 2002–03 Policy Simulation Model and have been rounded to the nearest £100m