Overview

• In a formal response, the Department for Work and Pensions said there are no plans to lower the State Pension age to 60 or raise payments to about £586 a week.
• The petition, launched by Denver Johnson, proposes a universal rate equal to 48 hours at the £12.21 National Living Wage, pays about £2,344 every four weeks (£30,476 a year), and has roughly 18,800 signatures.
• Ministers reaffirmed the Triple Lock, with the earnings component at 4.7% currently leading the 2026–27 uprating pending September CPI data due on October 22.
• The government forecasts State Pension spending will be around £31 billion a year higher by the end of this Parliament due to protecting the Triple Lock.
• Officials pointed to targeted support including Pension Credit, an expanded Winter Fuel Payment for over-State-Pension-age households in England and Wales with income at or below £35,000, the Warm Home Discount, disability benefits, and the newly launched Pensions Commission, with final uprating decisions expected at the Autumn Budget on November 26.