To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent estimate he has made of the number of people likely to reach the state pension age before 6 April 2010.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking what recent estimate has been made of the number of people likely to reach the state pension age between now and 6 April 2010.

The number people projected to reach state pension age in the United Kingdom between 22 April 2009 and 6 April 2010 is 660 thousand.

This estimate is derived from the 2006-based national population projections for the United Kingdom, published in October 2007.