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Mr. Wigley
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the value of the death grant payable since it was first introduced.
Mr. Deakins
On the basis of the movement in the retail prices index up to February 1977, the latest month for which figures are available, the value of the death grant is given in the following table:
| Year (July) | Maximum rate of death grant | Value at constant February 1977 prices |
| £ | £ | |
| 1949 | 20·00 | 107·29 |
| 1950 | 20·00 | 105·29 |
| 1951 | 20·00 | 95·23 |
| 1952 | 20·00 | 87·25 |
| 1953 | 20·00 | 85·25 |
| 1954 | 20·00 | 83·25 |
| 1956 | 20·00 | 76·93 |
| 1957 | 20·00 | 73·61 |
| 1958 (January)* | 25·00 | 90·74 |
| 1958 | 25·00 | 90·41 |
| 1959 | 25·00 | 89·99 |
| 1960 | 25·00 | 88·29 |
| 1961 | 25·00 | 85·59 |
| 1962 | 25·00 | 81·44 |
| 1963 | 25·00 | 80·81 |
| 1964 | 25·00 | 77·73 |
| 1965 | 25·00 | 74·07 |
| 1966 | 25·00 | 71·60 |
| 1967 | 25·00 | 70·03 |
| 1967 (October)* | 30·00 | 83·69 |
| 1968 | 30·00 | 79·82 |
| 1969 | 30·00 | 75·83 |
| 1970 | 30·00 | 71·10 |
| 1971 | 30·00 | 64·55 |
| 1972 | 30·00 | 61·01 |
| 1973 | 30·00 | 55·75 |
| 1974 | 30·00 | 47·61 |
| 1975 | 30·00 | 37·71 |
| 1976 | 30·00 | 33·42 |
| * Uprating dates. | ||
Mr. Wigley
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he proposes to modify the death grant system to overcome anomalies for persons aged 87 years and over.
Mr. Orme
No. The grant is a contributory one, and it would not be appropriate to pay it to people who were already over pension age in 1948 and thus could have paid no contributions towards it.