The Government remains committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.

In April, the State Pension saw its biggest ever rise, increasing by 10.1%. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in it was 2010. That’s £790 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £945 more than if it had been uprated by earnings (since 2010). The increase of 10.1% is in line with the Consumer Price Index which includes changes in rents in the basket of goods used to measure it.

The Government has also supported pensioners with additional payments to reflect the exceptional cost of living pressures. This year this includes a Pensioner Cost of Living Payment worth up to £300 in the winter of 2023/24 to all pensioner households and additional cost of living payments of up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit.

For those who require additional support the Government has provided an additional £1 billion of funding as a further extension of the Household Support Fund.

Details on funding for the scheme are available here. We are continuing to work with local authorities and sponsors to support them with their hosting arrangements.

The Government understands that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way.

In addition to the Energy Price Guarantee, the Government has announced £37 billion of support for the cost of living in 2022-23. As part of this, millions of the most vulnerable households will receive £1200 of support this year through the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme, £150 Council Tax rebate and one-off £650 Cost of Living Payment for those on means-tested benefits, with additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits.

For households that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for families that need additional support this winter, the Government has provided £500 million to help deliver the Household Support Fund (HSF) between October 2022 to March 2023. The Government has also committed £1 billion to extend the HSF through to March 2024, bringing the total provided to deliver HSF to £2.5 billion.

The Government has announced cost of living support worth £26 billion in 2023-24, in addition to benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working age households and people with disabilities.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has completed his annual up-rating review and State Pension and benefit rates will increase in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) for the year to September 2022. This means that they will increase by 10.1% from 10 April 2023.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.

Following the conclusion of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ annual uprating review, the Chancellor has announced in the Autumn Statement that the Government will uprate the State Pension by inflation at 10.1% on 10 April 2023. This is in line with the commitment to keep the triple lock.

Supporting people in retirement after they have worked hard all of their lives is important, especially as pensioners cannot easily increase or supplement their incomes.

The Secretary of State is conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates including rates for disability benefits. The outcome of the review will be announced shortly.

The government understands the pressures people, including disabled people, are facing with the cost of living and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes:

• the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme;
• a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people who are receiving additional-needs disability benefits, in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;
• up to £650 in cost-of-living payments (paid in two separate payments of £326 and £324) for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit, including those with a disability;
• a one-off payment of £300 through the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households, including those with disability or care needs.
• a £150 non-repayable rebate in Council Tax bills which was paid to all households in Bands A-D in England earlier this year.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of that review, which will be announced in due course.

Our priority is to protect the most vulnerable, including those who cannot increase their earnings through work, such as pensioners who are in a unique position

The Government has committed to implementing the Triple Lock for the remainder of this Parliament.

Under this Government, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension has risen by over £2,300, in cash terms. That’s £720 more than if it had been uprated by Prices, and £570 more than if it had been uprated by earnings since 2010.

Following the publication of Average Weekly Earnings for May to July and the Consumer Prices Index for September by the Office for National Statistics, the Secretary of State will now commence her annual review of benefits including Universal Credit and State Pensions. Her decisions will be announced to Parliament shortly.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, but the Government is providing support to families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help with these pressures.

This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing work allowances to make sure work pays, freezing alcohol duties to keep costs down, and providing millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills. At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor went further, announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty, and an additional £500m to help the most vulnerable with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund. And, on 1st April 2022, in line with the Government’s target, we are increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over.

The Government continues to support a tax and benefit system that ensures it always pays to work, with the benefit system acting as a safety net for those families that need extra help. A flat rate income guarantee would not take into account the additional needs and costs faced by some individuals and therefore would not target taxpayer support where it is most needed.

As part of the Government’s statutory annual review of benefits, Universal Credit and a number of other benefits will be uprated in line with September’s CPI of 3.1% in April.

We are additionally providing support worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next that will help families with the cost of living. This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing Universal Credit work allowances by £500 p.a. to make work pay. This change means that 1.9m households will on average keep around an extra £1,000 on an annual basis. We have frozen alcohol and fuel duties to keep costs down, and provided a £9.1 billion package announced in February 2022 to help households with rising energy bills. On top of this, we are increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour in April 2022 which will benefit more than 2 million workers.

I refer the Hon. Member to my response to Parliamentary Question 126529 answered 25^th February 2022.

There is a statutory duty for the Secretary of State to review the benefit cap levels once in each Parliament. The review will happen at the appropriate time, as determined by the Secretary of State.

This country has never paid our pensioners more. This year, we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain. From April,

The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2020 raised the State Pension by 2.5% from April 2021 although CPI was 0.5% and earnings were negative. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.

In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.

Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. From 2022/23 the eligibility criteria for the warm home discount scheme will be extended to a greater number of Pension Credit customers and the payment increased to £150.

Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual Winter Fuel payment worth up to £300. This winter we will pay over 11m pensioners a winter fuel payment at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.

The Chancellor’s announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.

Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.

The uplift to Universal Credit was a temporary measure, therefore we did not complete an assessment of it ending in the context of the rise in the cost of living.

There is a statutory duty for the Secretary of State to review the benefit cap levels once in each Parliament. The review will happen at the appropriate time, as determined by the Secretary of State.

There is a statutory duty for the Secretary of State to review the benefit cap levels once in each Parliament. The review will happen at the appropriate time, as determined by the Secretary of State.