To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women over state pension age on 5 April 2010 would benefit if the reduction from 39 to 30 in the number of qualifying contribution years required for a full basic pension applied to them; and what estimate he has made of the additional cost for 2010-11. (171793)

The estimated total additional net cost in 2010-11 of reducing the number of qualifying years required for a full basic sate pension to 30 for women over sate pension age in 2010 is around £1 billion in 2007-08 price terms. It is estimated that around 2 million women would gain more basic state pension as a result of this.

Notes:

1. GB estimates based on the Government Actuary’s Department Retirement Pension model.

2. This is an estimate of the net annually managed expenditure cost of re-assessing basic state pension entitlement of all women pensioners in 2010 against 30 qualifying years, rather than just the cohort that reach state pension age in 2010.

3. These net costs take into account expenditure on income-related benefits.