Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has not agreed to uprate the pensions of UK nationals resident outside the EU; and if will she make a statement.

Since WW2 successive Governments, Labour, the Coalition and Conservatives have had the same policy. The policy on up-rating the UK State Pension abroad is long-standing and unchanged. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and they are up-rated for overseas residents where there is a legal requirement to do so.

The cost of up-rating State Pensions would increase by more than £3 billion over five years if payments to recipients in countries where they are not currently up-rated were increased to the rates payable had the recipients never left the UK. It is not proposed to change this policy.