Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on the Government's Global Britain agenda of the policy of not uprating pensions paid to UK pensioners living in commonwealth countries where there is no requirement to do so.

The policy on the up-rating of UK State Pensions overseas is longstanding and has been supported by successive Governments for over 70 years.

There are no plans to change the policy. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide, and we continue to up-rate it abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so; for example, where recipients are living in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that provides for up-rating.