On 22 November 2023, the Chancellor announced several reforms during his Autumn Statement that will impact pensions. These include:
State Pension
The Government has committed to maintaining the Triple Lock and uprating the basic State Pension, new State Pension and Pension Credit standard minimum guarantee for 2024-25 in line with average earnings growth of 8.5%.
However, LGPS pensions increase in line with the Consumer Price Index and not average earnings growth. We expect the Government to confirm the actual rate in March 2024. The rate of increase is usually the September to September adjustment in the Consumer Price Index, which was 6.7%.
Lifetime Allowance
The Government will legislate in the Autumn Finance Bill 2023 to remove the Lifetime Allowance, a key measure from the Spring Budget.
Lifetime Provider Model – Call for Evidence
The Government is launching a Call for Evidence on a lifetime provider model to simplify the pensions market by allowing individuals to move towards having one pension pot for life and on a potentially expanded role for collective defined contribution schemes in future.
You can find more details about these and the other changes announced at Autumn Statement 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)