Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with his Australian counterpart on uprating the UK state pension for British overseas pensioners living in Australia.

The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions paid overseas is longstanding and has been in place for over 70 years. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.