asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many pensioners receive flat-rate pensions regardless of whether they receive a top-up pension. [HL1284]

The number of people in receipt of a basic state pension regardless of whether they are getting any additional state pension or graduated retirement benefit is 11.7 million.

Source: DWP 5 per cent Administrative Data sample as at March 2007

Notes:

1. Data are taken from 5 per cent sample, therefore figure is subject to a degree of sampling variation.

2. Figure is rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.

3. Figure applies to pensioners in the UK and overseas.