Increasing state pension age not ruled out

Prime Minister Liz Truss has not ruled out increasing the retirement age to help balance the nation's books.

Men and women can currently retire and receive state pension at the age of 66.

Under government plans that age would rise to 67 this decade, and 68 as early as 2039. Two reviews of these dates are under way.

Ms Truss is under pressure to find savings to pay for her tax-cutting economic growth plan and to get the UK's national debt falling.

She has guaranteed that state pensions will continue to increase in line with wages.

But she has not ruled out real-terms cuts in working age benefits such as universal credit, saying the government has not decided whether to link rises to inflation or not.

Asked at the Tory conference in Birmingham if she was going to end up raising the age at which people can clam the state pension age beyond 67, she said: "You're asking me to speculate all kinds of decisions that haven't yet been made."

A review chaired by Conservative peer Baroness Neville-Rolfe is looking at what factors the government should take into account when setting the pension age.

At the moment, the age limit is based on ensuring no-one spends more than one third of their adult life in retirement. A separate review by the government's actuary is examining the latest life expectancy data.

They are due to report back to the government on 7 May next year.

Two increases to the state pension age are currently set out in legislation:

When it launched the reviews in January, the Department for Work and Pensions said: "As the number of people over state pension age increases, due to a growing population and people on average living longer, the government needs to make sure that decisions on how to manage its costs are, robust, fair and transparent for taxpayers now and in the future.

"It must also ensure that as the population becomes older, the state pension continues to provide the foundation for retirement planning and financial security."