Pensions Triple Lock

Markus Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the social care workforce. It has been undervalued over the years. The jobs that these people do are incredibly important to the people they look after, and we are not waiting until April 2030 before addressing some of those concerns and putting forward a better deal for the social care workforce.

[Markus Campbell-Savours (Penrith and Solway) (Lab)]

Rural pensioners are often more reliant on the state pension and experience higher heating and travel costs and poorer service access. Many often experience strict criteria or less outreach for council support. How do we ensure that changes to the triple lock do not leave my rural constituents behind, and that rural communities are not the last to benefit from the vitally needed national care service, especially considering the recruitment challenges we have in areas such as Cumbria?

[Pat McFadden]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the needs of rural pensioners. The changes that this Government have made will result in energy bills £150 lower than they otherwise would have been. We have also put forward special help to local authorities in areas where large amounts of people are reliant on home heating oil. We have said that we will remove VAT from electricity bills, and we will continue to do what we can to help households with the rises in energy bills, which are caused by external geopolitical events.