Pensioners will see their state pension increase by up to £900 next month, as an announcement made at last year’s autumn statement comes into effect.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the triple lock on pensions would be honoured, with state pensions set to rise from April 1.
Under the triple lock – which guarantees an increase in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is highest - pensions will increase by 8.5 per cent next month.
Opening last year’s autumn statement, Mr Hunt said: "After a global pandemic and energy crisis we have taken difficult decisions to put our economy back on track.
“We have supported families with rising bills, cut borrowing and halved inflation.
“Rather than a recession, the economy has grown. Rather than falling as predicted, real incomes have risen.
“Our plan for the British economy is working. But the work is not done.”
The Chancellor went on to announce plans to honour the triple-lock on pensions in line with an increase in wages.
He told MPs: "The triple lock has helped lift 250,000 older people out of poverty since its inception in 2011.
"It has been a lifeline for many during times of inflation.
"We honour our commitment to the triple lock in full. We will increase the new state pension by 8.5 per cent, worth up to £900 more a year."
Millions of workers set for April pay rise
The National Living Wage increase by more than £1 an hour, from £10.42 to £11.44, from April.
Eligibility for the National Living Wage will also be extended by reducing the age threshold to 21-year-olds for the first time.
The Department for Business and Trade estimate 2.7 million workers will directly benefit from the 2024 National Living Wage increase.
Speaking in November, Mr Hunt said: “Next April all full-time workers on the National Living Wage will get a pay rise of over £1,800 a year. That will end low pay in this country, delivering on our manifesto promise.
“The National Living Wage has helped halve the number of people on low pay since 2010, making sure work always pays.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here