Andy Burnham has announced the state pension triple lock in its current form will end.
The Prime Minister took the bold step to reveal plans to ditch the triple lock and replace it with a double lock at the Labour Party conference yesterday.
Here we explain how the state pension currently works, what is changing and why and how the changes will affect your finances.
What is the state pension?
The state pension is a monthly payment from the Government that most people in the UK can claim once they reach a certain age.
The age at which someone can receive the state pension is currently 66 for both men and women, but this is increasing in the coming years.
It is currently in a transition phase, rising to 67 between May 6, 2026 and April 6, 2028.
The amount of money people get via the state pension is based on their previous National Insurance contributions, typically built up while working in a job or running their own business as someone who is self-employed.
Andy Burnham has announced that the state pension triple lock in its current form will end
There are two different systems for claiming the state pension. There is the old state pension, also known as the basic state pension, which applies to people who reached state pension age before April 6, 2016.
And there is the new state pension, which applies to men born after April 6, 1951, and women born on or after April 6, 1953.
People with the old state pension get less money than those on the new state pension.
How much do people get now?
The full new state pension was increased by 4.8 per cent in April 2026 to £241.30 a week. This equates to around £12,547.60 a year. The full old state pension is £184.90 per week.
These are the numbers for people who get a full state pension and have the requisite number of qualifying years of National Insurance contributions.
People usually need at least 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get a full state pension. If you have less, your state pension will be lower.
You might be able to fill in gaps with voluntary payments if your National Insurance record falls short.
How are state pension rises currently figured out?
In 2011, the coalition government announced the introduction of something called the triple lock.
The triple lock ensures the state pension rises by whichever is higher – inflation, wages or 2.5 per cent.
It was designed to ensure the value of the state pension kept up with increases in the cost of living and the incomes of people in work.
The triple lock in its current form will remain in place until the end of 2029, coinciding with the end of the current parliamentary term.
How has the triple lock pushed up the state pension?
Since it was introduced, the triple lock has resulted in the state pension increasing in line with consumer price index (CPI) inflation five times, one of which was the result of a temporary suspension of the earnings link.
Each month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) checks the prices of around 700 items in a 'basket' of goods and services, which is designed to represent what people buy on average.
The basket includes everyday items, like bread or a bus ticket, and includes larger ones, like a car. The basket’s overall price is known as the CPI.
To calculate the rate of inflation, the ONS compares the CPI with what it was a year ago. The change in the price level over the year is the rate of inflation.
Earnings have been used to index the state pension in six years, while the 2.5 per cent minimum applied in four years.
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In the first year of the triple lock, in April 2011, the retail price index measure of inflation was used as a one-off since it was higher than CPI, wages or 2.5 per cent.
As a result, the triple lock has increased the state pension by 89 per cent, while the increase in earnings over the same period, measured by average wage growth from the previous July, has been 66 per cent.
Wage growth is the highest of the three key figures this year, at 3.9 per cent.
This means the new state pension is expected to rise by about £488 a year in April, topping £13,000 annually, based on the latest official earnings figure released in September 2026.
As the state pension rises, more people getting the state pension are having to pay income tax on it.
This is because, for most people, income tax kicks in once someone has £12,570 or more a year coming in as income.
Data suggests providing the state pension will cost the government about £154billion in the current tax year.
Some people think the triple lock has become too expensive and is unsustainable. Others think it should be maintained in its current form.
How will the triple lock change from 2030?
Burnham has announced that the triple lock in its current form will be scrapped from April 2030. The new measure will be similar to a double lock.
Put simply, currently the state pension increases each year in line with whichever is the highest of inflation, average wages, or 2.5 per cent.
From April 2030, Burnham plans for the state pension to only rise in line with the highest of inflation or 2.5 per cent.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS): 'The key change is that the new triple lock removes the most expensive and unjustified part of the triple lock: the fact that it permanently ratchets up state pension spending over time.'
Burnham said the current triple lock needed to be axed in order to help pay for, at least in part, a new 'national care service' in England from 2030.
The Government has suggested the new state pension calculation method should raise an additional £15billion a year by 2040.
An analysis published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on September 29, 2026, the day of Burnham's announcement, said: 'From April 2030 the Government will adjust the triple lock, delivering a rising pension every year that protects against price rises and ensures that pensioners benefit as the economy grows via the State Pension retaining that record high value relative to earnings.'
The DWP added: 'In any given year it will go up by at least inflation or 2.5 per cent – and anything more that is needed to retain that value. This means that over time the State Pension is set to rise in line with average earnings.'
What about the earnings link?
This is where things get a bit complicated. The link between earnings growth and the state pension won't be scrapped in its entirety from April 2030.
The Government said the state pension would 'hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation'.
From April 2030 the state pension will not rise in line with earnings unless its value has fallen behind. In that case, it would be adjusted so that it keeps pace.
The state pension will not automatically jump up with average wage rises every year, but only broadly track them over a longer period of time.
The state pension would not continue to rise with earnings when earnings rise by more than inflation or 2.5 per cent. At this point the earnings component of the state pension calculation would be culled.
We do not yet have official earnings figures in the annual uprating formula conceived by the Government, making it tricky to decipher how the earnings link will work in practice.
The IFS has examined what the state pension could look like from April 2030
What could annual state pension rises from April 2030 look like?
From April 2030 the state pension won't grow as quickly as it does under the current regime.
Affected pensioners will see their payouts reduced compared with what they would have got had the regime remained unchanged.
The IFS has worked out an example of how the Burnham-style state pension calculation method would work and compared it with the current one.
The think-tank has taken a ten-year period where inflation sticks at 2 per cent and average earnings grow by 4 per cent annually at the beginning of the period, but dip to 1 per cent in later years.
Considering the state pension from April 2030, the IFS said: 'When earnings growth falls below 2.5 per cent and inflation, the state pension still rises by 2.5 per cent each year. But, importantly, as earnings growth recovers in year 7, under the new triple lock the state pension does not grow in line with earnings.'
The IFS added: 'Under the old triple lock... the state pension would increase in line with earnings growth in the first few years.
'When earnings growth falls below 2.5 per cent and inflation, in this example the state pension would then rise by 2.5 per cent each year from years 4 to 6. It would then return to growing in line with average earnings growth in year 7 when it returns above 2.5 per cent and inflation.
'The fact that it returns to growing in line with average earnings growth in year 7 generates the permanent "ratchet": the state pension is now permanently higher relative to average earnings.'
The IFS said: 'While the new triple lock generates a temporary period in which state pensions are higher relative to average earnings (years 4 to 8 in this example), it does not permanently ratchet up the level of the state pension like the old triple lock does.'
The analysis by the IFS suggests that had the Burnham-style state pension been in force between 2010 and 2026 it would have still increased in real terms by 6 per cent and faster than inflation.
The IFS does not think savings for the Government from the new regime will be large in the short-term, but believes they will grow over time.
If Burnham’s new rules were launched from next year, the planned 3.9 per cent increase under the triple lock would have been axed and replaced with an inflationary rise expected to be about 3 per cent.
This would cost state pension recipients around £87 a year on the basic state pension and £112 on the new state pension.
But if that meant the new state pension would drop below 30 per cent of the national average wage, it is believed the 'new earnings link' would kick in and restore it to that level.
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