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Mr. Sydney Irving
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of retirement pensions in each of the last five years; and how much she expects they will cost this year and next.
Mr. O'Malley
The figures are as follows:
| Year ending 31st March | Cost of retirement pension £ million | |||
| 1971 | … | … | … | 1,785 |
| 1972 | … | … | … | 2,068 |
| 1973 | … | … | … | 2,396 |
| 1974 | … | … | … | 2,779 |
| 1975* | … | … | … | 3,603 |
| 1976† | … | … | … | 4,850 |
| 1977† | … | … | … | 5,403 |
| * Provisional figure. | ||||
| † Estimated; includes recently announced increases operative from November 1975 but makes no allowance for uprating in 1976–77. | ||||