House of Lords urge removal of pension triple lock

The triple lock was introduced by the Coalition Government in 2010 and increases the State Pension by whichever is highest of wages, inflation or 2.5%.

In its report on Intergenerational Fairness, the Committee says the State Pension should instead be uprated in line with average earnings to ensure parity with working people.

However the Committee said "there should be protection against any unusually high periods of inflation in the future".

The report outlined that a House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into intergenerational fairness concluded that the triple lock had succeeded in restoring the value of the State Pension. It also suggested that maintaining the triple lock indefinitely would be "unsustainable".

The House of Lords added that the TaxPayers’ Alliance told them it was “egregiously unfair” that at a time of spending restrictions on young people that the State Pension was rising at such a high rate. It also suggested that as there was a public spending deficit the cost of these rises was being paid by future generations, and therefore recommended that the State Pension should be frozen.

However the House of Lords report said that "whilst there is a case for spending restraint it does not seem fair for people reliant on the State Pension to fall behind working people".

Commenting on the report, Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “As the age profile and distribution of wealth of our population continues to change, it's critical that all government policies are considered through a lens of intergenerational fairness.

“The state pension triple lock has served its purpose of boosting the level of state pensions faster than average earnings but continuing it indefinitely is not financially sustainable."