Overview
- Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee, the Chancellor said "yes" when asked if she would rule out moving to a single lock in this Parliament.
- The state pension will rise by 4.8% next April, taking the full new rate to £241.30 a week (£12,547.60 a year) and the basic rate to £184.90, with older basic-rate recipients receiving a £440 annual uplift versus £575 on the new pension.
- Official forecasts show the triple lock will cost around £15.5 billion more per year by 2029–30 than an earnings link, and the IFS estimates current spending is about £11 billion higher than inflation- or earnings-only uprating.
- During a Commons debate on pensioner poverty, Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh called for the triple lock to be phased out, while Pensions Minister Torsten Bell pointed to the government's biggest-ever Pension Credit take-up campaign.
- Public pressure includes a parliamentary petition urging inflation-only increases that would require a government response at 10,000 signatures and could secure a debate at 100,000.