State Pension UK: Boris Johnson makes new commitment to Triple Lock Pension

State Pension is a sum which is provided to those of an eligible age to assist them during retirement. However, a pledge in 2011 by the then-coalition government aimed to protect the pension sum even further. Triple Lock guarantees that the basic state pension will rise each tax year, in April, by a minimum of either 2.5 percent, the rate of inflation, or average earnings. 

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In recent weeks, though, reports have suggested triple lock could be under threat, as the government attempts to recoup high spending brought about by the coronavirus crisis.

Seemingly allaying these fears, Mr Johnson spoke about the State Pension and Triple Lock commitments made in the Conservative Party manifesto late last year.

Mr Johnson spoke to the Commons Liaison committee this evening, where he was quizzed on Triple Lock. 

Mel Stride, a Conservative Party MP, asked the Prime Minister if he would honour manifesto commitments specifically relating to Triple Lock.

Mr Johnson responded: “We are going to meet all of our manifesto commitments, unless I specifically tell you otherwise.

“It’s an important point, and we won’t be blown off. Of course, we are on track to delivering these things.

“We will deliver 40 new hospitals, we are well on track to delivering 20,000 more police officers, and we will recruit 50,000 more nurses. Heaven knows the need for those have never been more apparent.

“We are going to get on with our programme, and we have a fantastic agenda for this country for uniting and levelling up.”

The Triple Lock Scheme has seemingly created a significant impact on pensioner incomes.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies stated that between April 2010 and April 2016, the value of the state pension increased by 22.2 percent.

This is compared to growth in earnings of 7.6 percent, and growth in prices of 12.3 percent, when considering the same period.

However, a document seen by the Telegraph recently suggested the Treasury may be looking to scrap the protection to raise more money for the government.

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Treasury officials appear to have advised the Chancellor Rishi Sunak that it is “better to break the tax lock to achieve revenue of this scale than attempt to raise this level of revenue with this constraint.”

They added stopping the cost of the pension Triple Lock could produce savings of circa £8billion per annum “when compared to the base case”. 

And the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has called for the lock to be ditched to fund the coronavirus crisis.

The SMF thinktank said in recent analysis the government bill to tackle COVID-19 should be equally and fairly shared between retirees and workers. 

Pensioners who retired before April 6, 2016, are entitled to the ‘old’ State Pension system which could see them receive up to £134.25 per week.

Those who retired after this date will fall under the New State Pension system, and could gain up to £175.25.

State Pension is usually paid every four weeks to claimants and the day they receive the sum is based on the last two digits of their National Insurance number. 

The payments are provided to those who have given years of National Insurance contributions to the government. 

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