Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed that state pensioners born after 1951 (men) or 1953 (women) will receive £247 per week tax-free from April 2026, amounting to £990 monthly. This follows his commitment to maintain the triple lock metric, which guarantees at least a 2.5 per cent annual increase.
Triple Lock and Pension Increase
The current full state pension stands at £241 per week. Under the triple lock, a 2.5 per cent increase would raise it to £247 weekly. Burnham, who succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, has pledged to uphold this manifesto commitment despite debate over its sustainability.
Tax Exemption for State Pensioners
Burnham has also committed to Rachel Reeves' policy of not taxing state pension income. In last year's Budget, Reeves stated that retirees whose only income is the state pension would not pay income tax. However, she did not detail implementation, and the policy now falls to Burnham's government.
The Prime Minister acknowledged during his Makerfield by-election campaign that pensioners being dragged into income tax was a frequent concern. He said: "I heard issues related to the personal allowance more than anything on doorsteps in Makerfield. I think it's been frozen now, hasn't it, for a number of years... So it has dragged more people in - pensioners, I think - and that particularly I think has become a growing issue."
Defending the Triple Lock
Burnham defended the triple lock during a social media Q&A weeks ago. When a Reddit user questioned whether it should be scrapped, he replied: "I appreciate there's a lot of debate about this but it is important that the commitment in the manifesto stands."
The £990 monthly tax-free payment applies to retirees who receive the full state pension. The policy aims to prevent pensioners from paying tax on their state pension income, addressing the issue of frozen personal allowances that have drawn more pensioners into taxation.
