Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Regulation 3 of the Social Security Up-Rating Regulations 2026 laid on 6 March, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the provision relating to frozen overseas state pensions by Order rather than Regulations.

The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2026 are in general consequential on the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026.

The provisions in the Up-rating Regulations cannot be included in the Up-rating Order because the powers on which the Up-rating Order relies are insufficiently wide to include these provisions.