In the press conference on September 7, 2021, the British government confirmed that the state pension will undergo a 2.5% increase from April 2022, thus resolving the triple lock on pensions, which continued during the pandemic. During the debate in parliament, it was resolved that there will be a one-year intervention and that the normal increase will be resumed from the tax year 2023-24, in line with the average increase in earnings. The state pension will once again rise to a fixed rate below the RPI inflation rate.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey MP, said: “Last year we passed legislation to shelve the earnings section, allowing me to assign a 2.5% increase as it was higher than inflation. If we hadn’t done that, the state pension would have been frozen.” The MP then went on to illustrate the proposed bill on Social Security (up-rating of Benefits). In fact, an increase in state pensions of 2.5% or in line with inflation will be guaranteed, only for 2022/23. Similarly to last year, the section on earnings for 2022/23 will be set aside again before being reinstated.
In addition to those receiving state pensions, this will apply to those receiving a standard minimum guarantee in the pension credit and widow and widower allowance in the death at work allowance. Coffey also pointed out that since 2010, the annual basic state pension has increased by over £ 2,050, leading to a decrease in the absolute poverty rate among retirees (200,000 less than in 2009/10).
Domenico Santomasi
Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash
