Pensions Triple Lock

Ellie Chowns Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

My hon. Friend is quite right to remind the House that it was Labour in Scotland who introduced free personal care. I notice that she did not make the claim that somehow the Scottish system is perfect and not in need of improvement; it certainly can be improved. Barnett consequentials—in plain English, a suitable share of the extra money spent in England—will be there to be spent on social care. The Scottish Government could decide to do something different, but that money will certainly be there to be spent on social care. Perhaps it needs to be when almost 10,000 Scots are waiting for social care assessments or care packages.

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

I welcome the Government’s stated commitment to tackling the crisis in social care. It does pensioners no favours if we kick the can down the road and continually fail to address it. This requires a cross-party approach and an honest and comprehensive conversation, including about the triple lock and other potential sources of funding. However, that conversation must be comprehensive. As the Secretary of State has pointed out today, this will not kick in until 2030, and yet the social care crisis is urgent. We need money now to fix it and much more money than will be released through the changes. Does the Secretary of State agree that funding to fix the crisis in social care also requires taxing wealth fairly?

[Pat McFadden]

It is right that we do not wait until April 2030 before trying to improve the system. Extra money is going into the social care system as a result of decisions made by this Government. We also need to do more to support the social care workforce through the fair pay agreement that this Government have promised. We will certainly not wait until April 2030 before improving the system. This announcement gives a long-term plan, which makes it different from many of the previous reviews and reports that have been issued. It identifies a sustainable and growing source of funding to pay for the national care service that the Prime Minister set out in his conference speech.