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CAMPAIGNING PENSIONERS WARN PRIME MINISTER OVER PENSIONS GAMBLE: DON’T MAKE STARMER’S MISTAKE
The Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, the campaigning organisation for older people in Scotland, has today demanded that Prime Minister Andy Burnham come clean over the future of the State Pension triple lock amid reports that he is preparing to open the door to its removal after the next General Election.
Rose Jackson, SPF’s spokesperson argued:
“As soon as he took office, Sir Keir Starmer chose to deprive older people of their winter fuel allowance, - a crass misjudgement which cost him and his party dear. We call on Andy Burnham to learn from Starmer’s mistake and make clear his commitment to the hard-earned rights of older people.
“They are not a Treasury contingency fund. They should not be expected to surrender the security of their State Pension whenever Westminster decides it needs another pot of money. The triple lock represents barely 10% of the total pension budget, and should be set alongside the £60 billion that over 60s contribute to the economy through work, voluntary efforts, and unpaid caring. And of course, additionally, by their taxes.
“The Prime Minister needs to give pensioners a straight answer: is the triple lock safe beyond the next election or isn’t it? Millions of older people planning their futures have a right to know.”
The triple lock currently requires the basic and new State Pension to rise each year by the highest of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%. Ever since Thatcher broke the link between pensions and average income, older people have seen their income fall in real terms year on year. For many pensioners the Triple Lock is the mechanism which prevents the value of an already modest State Pension from falling even further behind while other incomes and the cost-of-living rise. Official Scottish Government figures estimate that around 130,000 pensioners in Scotland, around 13 per cent, were living in relative poverty after housing costs in the 2022-25 period.
Ms. Jackson continued:
“There is a deeply misleading popular belief that pensioners are universally comfortable, asset-rich and somehow protected from the cost-of-living pressures everyone else is facing. Tell that to the older Scot rationing their heating or the pensioner watching every penny in the supermarket.
“The triple lock is not the reason Britain has difficult choices to make about public spending, and pensioners should not be turned into the convenient answer to every difficult question facing the Treasury.”
The organisation also warned that the debate raises fundamental questions for Scotland.
State Pension policy is reserved to Westminster, meaning any weakening of the triple lock would affect pensioners across Scotland. Social care, however, is devolved, and Scotland has its own care system, including longstanding provision for free personal and nursing care for those who need it.
There must be no question of Scottish pensioners taking a UK-wide hit to their retirement incomes without absolute clarity about where the money goes and how Scotland is treated.
“Social care desperately needs sustainable funding. Older people know that better than almost anyone else because many live with the failures of the care system every day. But presenting this as a choice between a decent state pension and decent care would be a false and deeply damaging argument. A civilised society should be capable of providing both.
If the Government wants a serious national debate about the future of pensions, then have one by putting the figures on the table and publishing the consequences.
Pensioners deserve much more than finding out that the value of their state pension has become the bill-payer for yet another policy.
SPF ANNOUNCE DEMONSTARTION TO MARK UN OLDER PERSONS DAY AND INVITE MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS TO JOIN THEM
Members and friends of the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, the leading campaigning organisation for older people’s rights in Scotland, will be demonstrating outside our Scottish Parliament at Holyrood at 11 a.m. on Thursday 1st October, the United Nations Day for older people. Supporters are welcome to join us there to make the vocal case that the Scottish Government needs both to be active for its older constituency, and to be seen to be active. This means at the very least the reinstatement of a minister for older people.
Rose Jackson, Chair of the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, stressed the importance of this event. “As homelessness continues to grow in Scotland, and fuel prices threaten to push vulnerable folk into poverty levels at the onset of winter, pensioner poverty is not a problem that can be put off for another day: it is a present and growing problem.
We repeat our support for the WASPI women, still penalised by an uncaring system and persistent refusal by successive governments to right the wrongs they have suffered.
Pensioner poverty is real. Their suffering is a scandal. Their human rights are at risk. The time to act is now!”
SPF RESPONSE TO OFGEM ANNOUNCING AN INCREASE OF 4% ON THE ENERGY PRICE CAP ON 1ST OCTOBER 2026.
Energy prices are set to rise again in October.
Ofgem, announcing an increase of 4% on the energy price cap from 1st October, has attributed this to higher wholesale gas prices due to the Iran war. A household using a typical amount of gas and electricity will pay £60 a year more.
Though the government claims its cut to VAT on electricity bills will save households £45, this still means that those most vulnerable, who already face proportionately higher bills and unfair standing charges, will as usual bear the brunt at a time, particularly in Scotland, when the need to keep warm is a priority for older people.
At the same time Ofgem is consulting on relaxing the regulations for new suppliers to enter the field in the interests of so-called competition. This is a policy doomed to failure, based on unproven, and indeed clearly counter-productive claims about the free market where consumers have in fact no real choice. Since 2016, no fewer than 51 energy supply companies have gone bust affecting more than 6 million customers (https://www.businessenergyuk.com/failed-energy-companies/). Vulnerable consumers are sometimes persuaded by attractive opening offers to change to new entrant suppliers, only to face additional stress and worry when these all too often collapse. The SPF urges Ofgem to address the needs of vulnerable energy users rather than bolstering the profits of the already cash rich energy giants.
SCOTTISH PENSIONERS’ FORUM EXPRESSES ‘GRAVE CONCERN’ AS RARE SUMMER ENERGY PRICE CAP JUMP THREATENS TO DEEPEN PENSIONER POVERTY CRISIS
The Scottish Pensioners’ Forum (SPF) has reacted with profound alarm to Ofgem’s announcement of a 13% increase to the energy price gap, warning that the move will have devastating consequences for older people already trapped in fuel poverty.
Effective from July 1st, 2026, the cap will see average annual dual fuel bills surge by £221, rising from £1641 to £1862. This steep summer increase hits at a time when households traditionally expect to build up credit ahead of the colder months, compounding a broader cost of living crisis that continues to push vulnerable groups below the poverty line.
Scottish Credit Unions and pensioners betrayed as funeral plans axed
The Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, the campaigning organisation for older people in Scotland has said thousands of older Scots have been blindsided by the abrupt collapse of funeral insurance policies sold through Scottish credit unions. The Family Protection Plan (FPP), underwritten by Maiden Life Försäkrings and brokered by C Mutual, is being pulled by the end of November—leaving long-standing policyholders with nothing to show for years of payments.
This shock decision has triggered widespread fury. Credit unions, pensioners’ organisations, and MSPs are demanding answers, calling the move “immoral,” “callous,” and “a betrayal of trust.” Many affected are elderly, on low incomes, and now face being uninsurable due to age or health—stripped of the dignity and security they were promised.
David Edwards, Chair of the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, condemned this decision: “Older people have paid in thousands over the years. Now they’re being told they’ll get nothing. It’s disgraceful. The rug has been pulled from under them. Someone must be held accountable.”
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