Update – 24/11/2016 – In yesterday’s Autumn Statement, Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced a review into the costs of the Triple Lock Guarantee. The Daily Mail Online reports –
“Philip Hammond told MPs he would be compiling a major report into the impact that state spending on pensioners has on the health and social care of an ageing population. The Treasury later confirmed that the review would look at whether the triple lock is affordable. It could also consider whether wealthier pensioners should continue to benefit from handouts such as the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes… However, Mr Hammond said no changes would be made until 2020.”
Original article – 11/11/2016
The “triple lock” on the value of State Pensions could be scrapped, if the report from an all-party committee of MPs is implemented. The report claims that the UK economy have become “heavily skewed” towards the affluent older generation, and needs to be re-balanced. The “triple lock” is a guarantee that the value of State Pensions will continue to rise, keeping up with the rest of the economy.
The Guardian writes –
“Under the triple lock, pensions have risen every year since 2010 by – whichever is the higher figure – the rate of inflation, average earnings or a minimum of 2.5%. This has lifted many pensioners out of poverty but the committee said it has resulted in the over-65s taking an “ever greater share of national income”… After housing costs, average pensioner household incomes now exceed those of working-age people, said the report. “The millennial generation, born between 1981 and 2000, faces being the first in modern times to be financially worse off than its predecessors,” it added… The committee also calls for a review of the winter fuel payment, worth at least £100 and up to £300 to pensioner households. It costs the Treasury £2bn a year and the MPs said it should “not be off limits” when the government seeks budget savings. “