The triple lock is a legally guaranteed annual increase in the value of the UK state pension.
Every April, the state pension is guaranteed to rise by the highest of out: the rate of inflation, average UK earnings, or 2.5 per cent.
The triple lock was first introduced in 2010 after being promised in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto. The pledge was made in order to help boost the value of Britain’s state pension, after years of UK payments lagging behind similar countries in Europe.
Successive governments have pledged to continue implementing the state pension triple lock ever since it was first introduced, with Labour promising not to do away with the mechanism when the party took office in 2024.
How the state pension for 2026 has been calculated
The state pension increase for 2026 was determined last year.
The decision is made depending on the data for September’s CPI inflation, and the average wage increase for May to July.
In the necessary time periods, in 2025 average wages increased by 4.8 per cent. Meanwhile, CPI inflation rose by 3.8 per cent.
Therefore, from April 6, state pension payments will increase by 4.8 per cent because average wages were higher than CPI inflation and higher than 2.5 per cent.
Both those on the New State Pension (introduced after April 2026) and the old state pension scheme, known as the “Basic State Pension”, will benefit from the increase.
Has the state pension triple lock ever been suspended?
While the triple lock has ben guaranteed in law ever since 2010, there was one year in which the policy was temporarily abandoned.
In 2022, the Conservative Government forced a vote in Parliament to suspend the triple-lock for one year.
This is because the Covid pandemic meant that average earnings were artificially inflated. With millions of people furloughed during the coronavirus crisis, average earnings dipped. When the economy re-opened, there was then an artificial explosion in growth of earnings by around 8.8 per cent.
Instead, for the 2022/23 financial year, the Government opted to increase the state pension in line with what was higher out of the other two elements of the mechanism.
Therefore, state pension payments increased by 3.1 per cent, in line with CPI inflation.
Will the state pension triple lock be scrapped?
The state pension triple lock means that no matter what the economic environment, payments to retirees have increased.
In recent years, the added cost of the policy has led some campaigners to demand a rethink, calling the triple lock unsustainable.
Last year, the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog, the Office of Budget Responsibility, warned the ageing UK population, along with the triple lock meant spending on the state pension is due to rise by around £80billion in today’s terms by the 2070s. Approximately half of the added spending was predicted to be due to the triple lock policy.
Despite concerns about the added cost of the state pension in the long run, currently no major UK political party has backed ditching the triple lock.
