New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed he will maintain the state pension triple lock, guaranteeing younger pensioners at least an extra £313 a year from April 2027, though the final figure could rise significantly depending on inflation and wage data.
Younger state pensioners are set to receive at least £313 in additional annual income from next April, after new Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed he will honour the state pension triple lock. Before taking office, Burnham pledged to keep the triple lock mechanism in place, a commitment already contained in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto. He confirmed the pledge in the lead-up to becoming Labour leader, despite warnings from the Office for Budget Responsibility that the policy is putting the UK’s public finances on what it has called an “unsustainable path.”
How the triple lock works
The triple lock is the mechanism used to determine the annual increase in state pension payments. Under the system, pensions rise each year in line with whichever is highest out of inflation, average wage growth, or a flat rate of 2.5%. Earlier this month, Burnham said it was “important” to continue Labour’s manifesto commitment to maintain the triple lock.
The actual increase due to come into effect from April 2027 has not yet been confirmed, and will depend on the September 2026 inflation figure, average earnings growth between May and July 2026, or 2.5%, whichever proves highest. The Government is expected to confirm the 2027-28 state pension uprating in the autumn, once the relevant inflation and earnings data have been published.
What it means for pensioners
Under the current basic state pension, paid to those who reached state pension age before 2016, payments are worth £9,614.80 a year. Even if the triple lock rises by the statutory minimum of 2.5%, that would still hand older pensioners with a full National Insurance record an extra £240.37 a year, before accounting for any additional uplifts such as the second state pension.
For younger pensioners who reached state pension age after April 2016, the new state pension is currently worth £12,547.60 a year. A minimum 2.5% rise would be worth £313.69 for those with a full National Insurance record, the figure at the centre of Burnham’s pledge. The full new state pension is only paid to those with 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits, with those who have fewer qualifying years receiving a reduced amount.
In both cases, the eventual confirmed increase is likely to be higher than the 2.5% floor, since both wage growth and inflation are currently tracking above that level. This year, for example, new state pensioners received a £575 boost as a result of a 4.8% rise in wage growth.
Scale of the commitment
Around 12 million pensioners across the UK currently receive the state pension, making the triple lock one of the Government’s largest annual spending commitments. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the long-term cost of maintaining the policy will continue to grow as the UK’s population ages and more people reach state pension age.
The triple lock has been in place since 2011, though it was temporarily suspended for one year in 2022-23, when the earnings element was replaced due to pandemic-related distortions in wage data. State pension payments remain taxable income, meaning some pensioners may still be liable for income tax if their total annual income exceeds their personal allowance.
