Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

State Pension: UK Citizens Living Overseas

Monday 5 February 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Recent assessment indicates restoring parity in state pension levels for UK citizens living overseas would cost about 0.9 billion annually.
  • The UK Government uprates state pensions only where there is a legal requirement to do so.
  • No plans to change existing policies or enter into new reciprocal social security agreements with Commonwealth countries.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Rob Roberts
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The question arises from concerns about the cost and fairness of ensuring that UK state pensions are uprated to current levels for British citizens residing in other countries.

Question

What recent assessment has been made regarding the potential annual cost of restoring parity in the level of state pension received by UK citizens living overseas, based on data from March 2022?

Answer from Paul Maynard

According to the latest estimate, uprating the state pension where we do not currently do so would cost about £0.9 billion a year if all UK state pensions in payment were increased to current UK levels.

Answered
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Q2 Rob Roberts
Brexit Benefits & Welfare
Context

The question stems from the belief that British citizens living in the Commonwealth should be entitled to the same state pension uprating as those in the UK, post-EU withdrawal.

Question

Following our withdrawal from the EU, could we move closer to Commonwealth partners by confirming all British citizens who live in the Commonwealth are entitled to appropriate state pension uprating as if they were still in the UK? Will the Minister meet me to discuss practicalities and restore common sense to this situation?

Answer from Paul Maynard

The UK Government continue to uprate state pensions when there is a legal requirement for that to be done, and have no plans to change their long-standing policy or enter into new reciprocal social security agreements.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Meeting request and practicalities discussion

How: No Plans To Change Policy

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