The Government says it has no plans to make the State Pension available from the age of 60, after a petition calling for them to do so gathered 17,000 signatures. The petition also calls for the pension to equal 48 hours a week at the National Living Wage, a demand the government has also refused to take on board.
Petition creator Denver Johnson proposes increasing payments to equal 48 hours each week at the National Living Wage rate of £12.21 per hour. Such an uplift would provide over 12 million people currently on the State Pension – and those over 60 – with £2344 every four-week payment period, some £30,476 each year. In a statement posted on the government website, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said: “There are no plans to bring the State Pension age back down to 60. Increases to State Pension age have been in legislation since the Pensions Act 1995, and there have since been a number of legislated increases to State Pension age introduced under successive Governments.
“As longevity has increased and our society aged, State Pension age rises have maintained fairness between generations and protected the public finances.
The full rate of the new State Pension is £230.25 a week, and it increases each year by whichever is the highest of three metrics: earnings – the average percentage growth in wages, prices – the percentage growth in prices in the UK measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or 2.5%.
The DWP statement added: “The Government is committed to supporting current and future generations of pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.
“Our commitment to the Triple Lock through this Parliament will benefit over 12 million pensioners.
“From the end of this Parliament, spending on the State Pension as a result of our commitment to protect the Triple Lock is forecast to be around £31 billion more a year, compared with 2024/25.”
Pensioners over 66 earning £35,000 or less are set to receive the winter fuel payment once more this year after the government controversially removed it last year.
These will be issued over November and December, with letters advising of payment amounts going out from October.
“Our system of state, private, and workplace pensions provides the basis for security in retirement.
“The Government also takes seriously the need to ensure future retirees, have a decent standard of living.
“That is why the Government have recently launched the Pensions Commission to ensure our pensions system delivers this in the decades ahead.”
