New update on State Pension annual payment uprating from next April under Triple Lock

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate will be announced on October 18 and forms part of the Triple Lock policy which is used to determine the annual State Pension uprating.

Under the Triple Lock, the State Pension increases each year in line with whichever of these three measures are the highest - average annual earnings growth from May to July (currently 8.5%), CPI inflation in the year to September (currently 6.7%) or 2.5 per cent.Speculation has been mounting in recent weeks that the UK Government may make changes to the Triple Lock to curb ever-increasing costs of the State Pension.

However, at a fringe Q&A event at the Conservative Party conference in Salford, hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave a measured and slightly cryptic response when asked about the future of the Triple Lock policy.When asked whether he would consider reviewing the State Pension Triple Lock, Mr Hunt said: “I think that we have to be very careful not to break manifesto promises.

Sometimes, it does happen.”He added: “But I think it needs to be a very exceptional circumstance where people can see that there’s a very good reason.”The Chancellor also explained the priority status attached to the State Pension Triple Lock and highlighted how last year’s uprating of 10.1 per cent could have been a “moment where we decided we had to do something with the Triple Lock”.He said: “To give you an idea of the priority which I attach to that particular promise, which is very, very important to a large group of people, many of whom are very vulnerable, when I was having to do some very difficult sums in the run-up to the Autumn statement (in 2022), you know, cutting spending by £30 billion, increasing tax by