Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the increases in state pension for 2019-20 were calculated; and for what reasons pensioners reaching the age of 80 are awarded an increase of 25 pence in 2019-20.

As a result of the Triple Lock, from April 2019, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is around £675 higher than if it had just been up-rated by earnings since April 2010. That’s a rise of over £1,600 in cash terms.

The Government is committed to ensuring economic security for people at every stage of their life, including during retirement. We are forecast to spend over £120 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2019/20. This includes £99 billion of expenditure on the State Pension.

In 2019/20, the basic State Pension and the new State Pension (apart from Protected Payments) were both uprated by 2.6%. This was in line with the Triple Lock guarantee that these will rise by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation, or 2.5%. In 2019/20 the highest measure was earnings growth at 2.6%. The full basic State Pension went up by £3.25 to £129.20 a week whilst the full rate of the new State Pension rose by £4.25 to £168.60 a week.

Protected Payments, Additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement Benefit elements are uprated each year by the increase in prices. They rose by 2.4% (CPI) in 2019/20.

The 25p age addition to contributory and non-contributory retirement pensions is paid with the State Pension when individuals reach age 80. It is a separate issue from the uprating process outlined above. When the age addition was first introduced in 1971 the value of the basic State Pension for a single person was £6 per week and the amount of 25p constituted a more substantial sum in relation to the total State Pension than it does nowadays in relation to the current basic State Pension of £129.20 a week.

Although there are no plans to uprate the age addition amount, this should be considered alongside the range of other measures and benefits, including Pension Credit, that are available to pensioners, over age 80. Moreover, people who are aged 80 and over receive a Winter Fuel Payment of £300, instead of the standard Winter Fuel Payment of £200 for pensioners below that age. Additionally, the non-contributory Category D State Pension is available to those aged over 80 with either no entitlement to a basic State Pension or who are entitled to State Pension of less than £77.45 per week who meet the residency conditions.