Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill

Baroness Greengross Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 13th October 2020 Grand Committee

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, I totally support the intention of this Bill, which ensures that the triple lock is maintained for pensioners. It is extremely important that older people who rely on their pensions do not fall into poverty, especially during this crisis which is hitting them so hard. However, older people who continue to work are not really pensioners; they are older workers. According to the May 2018 Office for National Statistics figures for December 2017 to February 2018, just under 1.2 million people over the age of 65 were in work. That is 10.2% of the entire age group.

The Equality Act 2010 includes provisions that ban age discrimination against adults in the provision of services and public functions. The ban came into force on 1 October 2012 and it is now unlawful to discriminate based on age. When someone receives a pension, they pay tax on any income above their tax-free personal allowance. They cease to pay national insurance on reaching the state pension age, regardless of whether they remain in employment.

The triple lock ensures that the state pension increases each year, using three different components—price inflation, earnings growth and 2.5%. The highest of the three, measured the previous September, is used to increase the pension each April. For the current financial year, UK Government borrowing could be anywhere from £263 billion to £391 billion, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. People who continue to work over the age of eligibility for a state pension do not need their pensions triple-locked. In today’s attitudes and legislation, these people are older workers not pensioners and, in my view, they should be taxed like other workers in our society.