Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the relative rate of state pension and cost of living.

The Government is committed to ensuring economic security for people at every stage of their life, including when they reach retirement. Legislation for the basic and new State Pensions allows for annual increases at least in line with average earnings growth. This ensures that people above State Pension age receive increases that are in line with earnings growth in the population as a whole. In addition, this Government has committed to increases in line with the Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament, ensuring that increases will be the highest of the growth in prices, earnings or 2.5%. For 2018/19 these pensions will increase by 3% (the rate of prices growth under the Consumer Price Index). The full rate of basic State Pension as a proportion of average earnings is now at one of its highest levels in the last 30 years.