A senior DWP minister has spoken about the future of the triple lock policy. The measure is soon to increase payments by 4.8 percent from April.

The policy ensures the state pension increases each April in line with the highest of inflation, the rise in average earnings or 2.5 percent. DWP minister Torsten Bell recently spoke to the Work and Pensions Committee about various topics around retirement and pension provision.

One question he was asked was whether or not he thinks the Government should keep the triple lock. The policy has delivered sizeable increases in payments in recent years, including a record 10.1 percent hike in April 2023, thanks to soaring inflation the year before.

Pensioners then enjoyed an 8.5 percent increase the next year, in line with the increase in earnings. The rising cost of the state pension raises the question of how long the triple lock will be sustainable and if ministers will need to move to a model with less generous increases.

Mr Bell said in response: “We going to be keeping the triple lock, yes, through this Parliament.” He was then asked about in the long term, if the policy will need to be changed. To which he simply responded: “A manifesto is a manifesto.”

Labour pledged in its General Election campaign that it would keep the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament. This will lift payments by 4.8 percent this April, increasing the full new state pension from £230.25 a week to £241.30 a week, or £12,548 a year.

The full basic state pension will go up from £176.45 a week to £184.85 a week, or 9,612 a year. Mr Bell also told the committee: “The Government’s revealed objective is that we want to see a slightly higher level of the state pension relative to earnings, which is being delivered by the maintenance of the triple lock over the course of this Parliament.

“That is the £30 billion increase in state pension expenditure over the course of this Parliament.” Andrew Prosser, head of Investments at investment platform InvestEngine, spoke about how the triple lock could become too costly for the Government.

He said: “The triple lock may become unaffordable if pension payouts rise faster than Government revenue, particularly as the population ages and life expectancy increases. Analysts suggest this could become a significant strain over the next decade, forcing policymakers to review or amend the system to balance cost and fairness.”