To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on administering the 25 pence old age allowance in each year since its introduction; and how many people over 80 received the allowance in the most recent year for which figures are available. (173446)

The age addition is an automatic payment made to eligible pensioners. The cost of administering the age addition is a relatively small element of the administration costs of The Pension Service and is not separately available.

The latest available information as at March 2007 is that there are around 2,693,300 pensioners in receipt of the 25p age addition.

Notes:

1. Data is taken from a 5 per cent. extract of the Pension Service Computer System, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

3. This figure includes everyone who is eligible to receive the age addition in GB and overseas, not everyone who is aged 80 or over.

Source:

DWP Information Directorate

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the cost of paying the over 80s age-related allowance is expected to be in 2007-08; (180976)

[holding answer 25 January 2008]: The age addition is an automatic payment made to eligible pensioners. The cost of administering the age addition is a relatively small element of the administration costs of the Pension Service and is not separately available.

The latest available information as at March 2007 shows that there are around 2,693,300 pensioners in receipt of the 25p age addition. The estimate of the 2007-08 expenditure is £33 million.

Notes:

1. Data relating to the number of pensioners are taken from a 5 per cent. extract of the Pension Service Computer System, therefore the figure is subject to a degree of sampling variation. It is also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

2. The figure relating to the number of pensioners is rounded to the nearest hundred.

3. The figure relating to the number of pensioners includes everyone who is eligible to receive the age addition in GB and overseas, not everyone who is aged 80 or over.

4. The figure relating to the value of age addition payments covers payments made to those in Great Britain and overseas.

5. The figure relating to the value of age addition payments has been rounded to the nearest million.

Source:

DWP Information Directorate; Comprehensive Spending Review 2007