asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the progressive increase in the cost of living, he will make an addition, by way of cost-of-living bonus or otherwise, to persons in receipt of Civil Service pensions.

It is a fundamental principle of Civil Service pensions that they are related to the salary earned at the time of retirement. Only in the most exceptional circumstances is it justifiable to depart from this principle and I am not prepared, in existing circumstances, to introduce the legislation which would be required to increase the scale of Civil Service pensions beyond the provisions of the Pensions (Increase) Acts of 1944 and 1947.