Found: We do not comment in this letter on pensions uprating .

Found: Ordered , That the following written evidence be reported to the House for publication: Benefits and Pensions

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the change in value of the full basic state pension weekly payment in 2023–24 if it had been linked only to consumer price index inflation since 2010.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The full weekly amount of basic State Pension would have been worth £139.10 in 2023-24 if it had been uprated by inflation (CPI) since 2010.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether there is any precedent where, when pensions were once frozen but started being uprated as a result of an international agreement, the pensions concerned were raised to the level they would have been had they never been frozen.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There is no standard model for international agreements on social security, which are agreed on a case-by-case basis between countries or groups of countries. The UK's international agreements on social security which include State Pension provisions are included here:

https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&p_country=GBR&p_count=3017&p_classification=23.01&p_classcount=160

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether they can publish the background workings to the estimated costs of uprating the State Pension in frozen rate countries.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The methodology is relatively straight forward and is contained within the publication but quoted below for ease:

1. The estimate is based on the latest available data (March 2022) from the 5% extract of DWP’s State Pension administrative data, the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry (QSE).

2. The QSE is used to estimate the volume of individuals in frozen rate countries and their State Pension amounts.

3. The State Pension amount, for all current and future recipients, is uprated (using the relevant indices) to the level they would have been if they had never been frozen.

4. To estimate the costs for subsequent financial years we make adjustments to the underlying caseload and associated costs by:

• applying mortality rates to existing cases, based on age and gender;
• adding forecasts of future State Pension claims, which are based on historical trends and expected changes in the population, and are adjusted for mortality; and
• uprating State Pension amounts using economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2023.

5. The total cost for a given financial year is the difference between the uprated State Pension amounts and the frozen State Pension amounts.

As with all estimates of projected costs, there is a degree of uncertainty, however where possible we have taken steps to try to minimise any significant measurement error.

Links for the relevant data sources publicly available are:

- OBR economic assumption for the relevant uprating indices here

- Mortality projections here

- Benefit expenditure and caseload tables (table State_Pension) here

- Stat-Xplore SP outturn data from Nov 20 here

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the rate of pensions in line with (a) rent and (b) other cost of living expenses.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government remains committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.

In April, the State Pension saw its biggest ever rise, increasing by 10.1%. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in it was 2010. That’s £790 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £945 more than if it had been uprated by earnings (since 2010). The increase of 10.1% is in line with the Consumer Price Index which includes changes in rents in the basket of goods used to measure it.

The Government has also supported pensioners with additional payments to reflect the exceptional cost of living pressures. This year this includes a Pensioner Cost of Living Payment worth up to £300 in the winter of 2023/24 to all pensioner households and additional cost of living payments of up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit.

For those who require additional support the Government has provided an additional £1 billion of funding as a further extension of the Household Support Fund.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to increase state pension rates for (a) men born before 6th April 1951 and (b) women born before 6 April 1953.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In April, the full basic State Pension, for people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016, was increased by 10.1% to £156.20 per week. This is the highest ever increase in the State Pension and means that the basic State Pension has increased by over £3,000 in cash terms since 2010.

In addition to the basic State Pension, most people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016 will also either receive an amount of additional State Pension or have benefitted from membership of a contracted-out private pension. Rates of additional State Pension also increased by 10.1% in April 2023.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of uprating the UK basic state pension to UK pensioners living abroad, regardless of any reciprocal agreements on pensions uprating.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and up-rated overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years.

No recent assessment has been made of the annual cost of up-rating the UK basic State Pension to UK pensioners living abroad, regardless of any reciprocal agreements on pensions up-rating.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what process his Department has for determining which countries the UK will have reciprocal agreements with for up-rating pensions.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 146826 on 27 February 2023.

Found: He also said the triple lock would apply for State Pensions uprating (restoring the earnings element

Found: 103 • the share of GDP falling from the mid -1980s after the earnings link was removed in 1980 and pensions

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