Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which EU member states have individual reciprocal agreements with the UK regarding annual increases in the state pension.
Answered by Lord Henley
The United Kingdom’s reciprocal social security agreements with EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are generally superseded by EU law. The reciprocal agreements with Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland all made provision regarding annual increases in the state pension.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many citizens living in each EU member state, other than the UK, are in receipt of the UK state pension.
Answered by Lord Henley
The UK State Pension is a contributory based pension payable worldwide regardless of nationality to those who meet the eligibility criteria. The table below shows the number of State Pension recipients resident in each EU country.
Recipients of the State Pension resident in EU countries, August 2016
Country | Caseload |
Ireland | 134,950 |
Spain | 108,442 |
France | 66,556 |
Germany | 42,862 |
Italy | 37,135 |
Cyprus | 18,768 |
Netherlands | 13,008 |
Portugal | 10,675 |
Malta | 6,491 |
Greece | 5,998 |
Sweden | 5,726 |
Belgium | 5,407 |
Austria | 5,255 |
Denmark | 3,414 |
Poland | 2,853 |
Finland | 1,559 |
Bulgaria | 1,182 |
Hungary | 905 |
The Czech Republic | 655 |
Luxembourg | 600 |
Croatia | 587 |
Lithuania | 485 |
Slovakia | 373 |
Slovenia | 302 |
Latvia | 259 |
Romania | 174 |
Estonia | 100 |
Source: Department for Work and Pensions
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with pensioner organisations regarding the impact of the reduction in the exchange rate of the pound sterling on the incomes of citizens in receipt of the UK state pension who live outside the UK in (1) the EU, (2) the Overseas Territories, and (3) elsewhere in the world.
Answered by Lord Henley
The DWP does not hold information on pensioner incomes overseas. The exchange rate is always subject to fluctuation and as a result State Pension payments in other currencies will change depending on the exchange rate at the time.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the annual increase of the basic state pension for UK citizens who have retired to Spain will continue after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Henley
The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU and the Government has not yet begun these negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reciprocal arrangements will be put in place to guarantee, after the UK leaves the EU, the annual increase of the basic state pension for UK citizens who have retired to countries in the European Union which do not currently have reciprocal arrangements with the UK.
Answered by Lord Henley
The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU and the Government has not yet begun these negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will give an assurance to UK citizens living in the EU and in receipt of the UK basic state pension that they will continue to receive the annual pension increase when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Freud
Negotiating the details of the UK’s exit will take some time. The status of pensioners will need careful consideration and state pensions will be considered as part of the negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for those countries and territories in which those in receipt of the UK state pension are subject to the frozen pensions regulations, what is the process necessary to negotiate reciprocal agreements for pensions to be uprated annually.
Answered by Baroness Altmann
There are a number of considerations around whether to initiate the negotiation of reciprocal agreements for pensions and other social security benefits. These include reciprocity between the social security systems in the respective countries, the movement of people between the two countries, and the affordability of concluding and administering an agreement.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Altmann on 2 March (HL6343), why there is a difference within the Overseas Territories resulting in some people receiving uprating of their pensions while the pensions of others are frozen, and what would be the annual cost of unfreezing pensions for all those living in the Overseas Territories.
Answered by Baroness Altmann
The government has a clear position, which has remained constant for around 70 years: the UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.
The annual additional cost of up-rating the state pensions of those recipients who are resident in the British Overseas Territories is estimated at approximately £1million in 2015/16.
Were this to occur, liabilities for pensioners who live in other countries and territories would also have to be met. The estimated cost of increasing pensions in those countries where they are not currently uprated would be over £0.5 billion a year. This would be financially unaffordable.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Altmann on 2 March (HL6343), why Canada was excluded from the list of countries in Annex A, and what figure for the number of people in Canada in receipt of a frozen UK state pension should have been included.
Answered by Baroness Altmann
The information requested can be found at page 2 of Annex A, at line 5 of the table provided in the answer I gave on 3 March to (HL 6343). I attach that here at Annex A for convenience.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries, excluding the Commonwealth, EU, or Overseas Territories, do people in receipt of the UK state pension receive annual uprating of their pension.
Answered by Baroness Altmann
The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK state pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or countries where we have a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.
Details of the numbers of people in receipt of the state pension, and whether they live in countries where the state pension is frozen or uprated, is included at Annex A. Countries where the UK state pension is up-rated are identified by an asterisk by the name of the country.
The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Of course there is uncertainty about how a vote to leave the EU could impact on access to pensioner benefits for UK pensioners living in other parts of Europe. These questions would need to be answered as part of the process of negotiating the UK’s exit if there is a vote to leave. We could only consider the detail of access to pensions and benefits for people in receipt of UK state pensions who are resident in Europe as part of the process for leaving the EU.