Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average increase in the State Pension in each of the next five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has committed to uprating the basic and new State Pensions by the Triple Lock for the length of this parliament.
Based on OBR Autumn 2024 forecasts, over the course of this parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension will go up by around £1,900. At the same time, the full yearly rate of basic State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,500.
Table A.3 of the Economic Fiscal outlook sets out the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecasts in each year, including the Triple Lock uprating forecast which is the rate at which basic and new State Pension is increased by for the following financial year. For example, the 2024-25 rate will determine the rate of increase for basic and new State Pension for the year 2025-26.
Forecast year | 'Triple-lock' guarantee |
2024-25 | 4.0%* |
2025-26 | 4.3% |
2026-27 | 2.5% |
2027-28 | 2.5% |
2028-29 | 2.5% |
2029-30 | 2.5% |
* Note: After the forecast was finalised, inflation and earnings outturn data and revisions were released which have changed state pension triple lock rate for 2024-25 (to be used in uprating for 2025-26) to 4.1 per cent.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made on the potential impact of the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
We are currently conducting an evaluation of the Household Support Scheme that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published in due course.
Management information on the Household Support Fund from April 2023 to March 2024, including details of how funding was spent in Gloucestershire, of which Gloucester is a part, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-4-management-information-for-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of children in poverty in Gloucester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.
Our publication on 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we will develop the Strategy, harnessing all available levers to deliver a reduction in child poverty this Parliament.
The Strategy will look at policies across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
The Taskforce will hear directly from experts on each of the Strategy’s themes including children and families living in poverty and work with leading organisations, charities, and campaigners.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple our investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, extend the Household Support Fund for an additional year until 31 March 2026, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.