The Conservatives and Labour have committed to maintaining the triple lock on state pensions until 2030.
Originally reported in The Times, Secretary of State for Work and Pension Mel Stride said the triple lock would “almost certainly” be in next year’s Conservative manifesto and that there was a “particular duty” to support pensioners who cannot increase their income by working.
As inflation continue to rise, state pensions would likely rise by 7% next April following the 10% rise this year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has raised concerns that the policy is “unsustainable” in the long term.
This follows a government-ordered review by Baroness Neville-Rolfe recommended this year that spending on state pensions, currently 4.8 per cent of GDP, be capped at 6 per cent to ensure “a greater element of fairness in expenditure across generations”.
The triple-lock ensures that the basic State Pension rises in line with the greater of: CPI inflation; average earnings; or 2.5%. This year, the basic and new State Pension went up by 10.1%. It was introduced by the Coalition Government in 2010 in response to concerns at the decline in pension values relative to average earnings since that link was broken in 1980.
