Pensioners have been told they won’t get a £400 boost in the annual payments from the DWP next year despite claims by a Government minister. In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden claimed that the triple lock “means a rise of about £400 or more in the basic state pension over the next year”.
But fact checking organisation FullFact says this isn’t correct for the full basic state pension, which is set to rise by around £350 from April next year. The basic state pension is for men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953.
FullFact’s Hannah Smith said: “It seems likely Mr McFadden misspoke, and was intending to refer to the new state pension (for people of state pension age born after the dates above), the full value of which is set to increase by approximately £460.”
Each year state pension payments increase in line with either the rate of inflation, growth in earnings, or 2.5%—whichever of these is highest. This is known as the “ triple lock ”.
The figures for next year’s rise are based on data published earlier this month, which sets the earnings part of the triple lock, showing annual growth in average weekly earnings increased by 4% in the period from May to July this year. As this is higher than both the current rate of CPI inflation and 2.5%, it all but confirms that the state pension will increase by 4% from April 2025.
Hannah said: “Although Mr McFadden said the increase would be “over the next year”, he was responding to a question about financial pressures “this winter” and his answer, which was slightly unclear, also referred to how the triple lock could help people “this year”. The basic state pension increased in April by around £700 a year, while the new state pension increased by around £900 a year.
“If an MP makes an inaccurate claim on broadcast media they should take responsibility for ensuring it is appropriately corrected, and make efforts to ensure the correction is publicly available to anyone who might have heard the claim.”