DWP Minister gives update on upcoming change to state pension

A senior government minister has shared news about a major change in government pensions. DWP Minister Torsten Bell spoke to the Work and Pensions Committee about upcoming changes to the DWP benefit eligibility rules.

He was asked about a range of issues related to people preparing for retirement financially, and how the state pension contributes to people’s later life plans. Another question he was asked was the imminent increase in the state pension age.

You can currently claim the state pension when you reach 66. However, the age of access is increasing from April 2026, rising gradually to 67 in April 2028. Mr Bell was asked about whether increasing the age of access would affect “well-being and frailty”.

The council also asked him what advice the Government sought from senior medical advisers on this question. He said in response that considerations about health “will be part of the way we do things” when it comes to decisions about pensions.

However, in a direct question about the health impact of raising the state pension age, he said: “The decision to increase it was obviously taken by the last Government, and its acceleration was put in place by the last Government, so you will have to ask them who they spoke to at the time.

“They announced the impact assessment along with the 2014 Act, but it’s not my business to talk about. There are other party representatives in the room who were involved in that; you can ask them who they spoke to.”

The increase from 66 to 67 was originally scheduled to occur in 2036, but this timeline was extended by eight years through the 2014 Act, in line with the increase in life expectancy. Legislation is also on the books to raise the state pension age again from 67 to 68, between 2044 and 2046.

Early access to pension

Mr Bell was also asked about his views on providing early access to the state pension. “It’s a very good question, and I think we should take it seriously,” he said. The minister said there were “inequity challenges” to consider when looking at providing early access to some groups.

He told MPs: “You want a country that supports people who are too sick to work, whether they are 25, 45 or 66. It is important to remember.

“You want a system that means people get help. We have chosen, for good reason, to have a big difference in the level of income support given to people over and under the state pension age, in broad terms, because the issue of work motivation is different from everything else.”

Mr Bell also spoke about the idea of ​​early access to people with chronic illness. He said: “People rightly raise challenges about how any of us can successfully deal with the problems of chronic disease, whether it is for ourselves or our family.

“Some people’s response to that is to allow early access to the state pension at a certain age—65 or 66—but there are 45-year-olds with chronic illnesses.” The minister also said that an important issue to be considered for early access to benefits is the “qualifications” of the different people being looked at.

State pension payments will increase by 4.8 per cent this April based on three key measures. This policy ensures that the payment rates increase every April, in accordance with the highest number of: 2.5 percent, the increase in the average salary or inflation.