§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his policy on the annual upgrading of retirement pensions for British citizens living in(a) Barbados and (b) Canada. [88792]
§ Mr. McCartneyWe uprate State Pensions for British citizens living overseas where there is a legal requirement or a reciprocal social security agreement to do so.
The UK has a reciprocal agreement with Barbados that provides for British pensioners living in that country to be paid the same rate of State Pension as would be paid if they lived in the UK. However, although there is a social security arrangement with the Canadian Government, it does not allow for the payment of UK benefits to persons in Canada and contains no similar provision on the uprating of State Pensions.
The uprating of State Pensions abroad is the subject of a Court of Appeal hearing set for 24–25 March 2003. This is an appeal against the High Court's finding that the UK Government are not in breach of the European 942W Convention on Human Rights by not annually uprating the State Pension in countries where there is no agreement to do so.