Former MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme
Between 1,800 and 1,900 decisions to issue a short-term allowance from the outset of a claim are made each week. In addition, about 200 claimants who have already received allowances for three months have the period of any further payment limited to four weeks.
Taking the second point first, that is indeed part of the policy which is being applied. On the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, I think that I can confirm that that is so. If the hon. Gentleman has any particular case in mind I should like to inquire into it. But, in the first period of the policy, of 319 appeals to appeals tribunals, 206 have failed, 87 are under...
If my hon. Friend can draw my attention to any such case I will go into it. Certainly the availability of travel facilities should be taken into account in all these cases.
7·3 per cent. measured by the Index of Retail Prices.
The hon. Gentleman will no doubt have in mind that during the period when this rise took place the supplementary benefit scales have been raised. I am referring to the period since pensions were last raised in October, 1967. This is a factor which will be taken into account in the next review during the next 12 months.
Measured by the Index of Retail Prices, the purchasing power of the retirement pension which has been considerably improved since this Government look office has, since its last increase in 1967, diminished by rather less than 7 per cent.
It depends upon the periods at which the reviews take place. The Prime Minister made that promise, and I would stress that the present level of the pension is still considerably above the level, in terms of its real value, in October, 1964. This change in the cost of living will be taken into account when the next review takes place.
The hon. Gentleman will know that a further report is coming out on this subject. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary for Employment and Productivity has promised to bring this out, and we: shall take this into account in assessing what shall be done about pensions in the next review.
