New State Pension update for half a million older people not due payment uprating next April
An online petition marking Second World War veteran Anne Puckridge’s campaign to meet with the Prime Minister on behalf of half a million victims of the ‘Frozen Pensions’ scandal has received over 101,000 signatures of support. The petition on Change.org, launched by Ms Puckridge’s daughter Gillian Mittins, is calling on the public for help, as Anne prepares to travel the 4,400 miles from Canada to London in early December, hoping Sir Keir Starmer will personally listen to her call for justice just days before her 100th birthday.
As a World War Two veteran, Ms Puckridge served in all three of the RAF, the Navy, and the Armed Forces. Now in her 100th year, she is leading the fight for justice for the half a million British pensioners living overseas who are denied the yearly increases to the UK State Pension ensuring that it remains broadly in line with inflation.
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This is because they live in a ‘frozen rate’ country, a specific set of countries that includes Australia, Canada, and most of the Commonwealth, with which the UK does not have an agreement to uprate the State Pension. Ms Puckridge argues the policy is leaving “many people in a desperate situation” and that it is “discriminatory”.
Despite having spent her working life in the UK and made all her National Insurance Contributions, Ms Puckridge receives just £72.50 per week, less than half the full Basic State Pension rate of £169.50 she would benefit from if she had remained in the UK.
This is the same amount she was entitled to in 2001, when she moved to Canada aged 76 to be closer to her daughter in older age. Like many in her situation, she was not told that her State Pension would be ‘frozen’ in this way when she moved abroad.
Speaking ahead of her visit to London in December, Ms Puckridge said: “With every passing year, our ability to keep up with cost of living increases is further reduced. So many are forced into poverty despite having paid all their dues and given so much to their country. All that is required to address this cruelty is political will, starting with a brief conversation that I sincerely hope the Prime Minister will feel able to grant me this December.”
More than 100,000 British pensioners living in Canada receive a frozen State Pension, typically at the payment rate of emigration while Canadian citizens living in the UK are entitled to a fully uprated Canadian State Pension.
Supporters of Ms Puckridge and the ‘End Frozen Pensions’ campaign include actress and activist Dame Joanna Lumley, who said: “Times may be tough and challenging. But I urge the powers that be to be mindful that many of those affected by this cruel policy served Britain through even tougher times.
“I think swathes of the country will find it simply unthinkable that brave men and women such as Anne should be treated this way. Some of the affected pensioners, like her, served our country in its most perilous days.
“They did right by the country, so surely the country should now do right by them. I urge the Prime Minister to move mountains in his no doubt crowded diary to find a precious few minutes to meet Anne when she makes her epic trip to the UK in December.”
Last week, Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Liz Kendall), if she will “hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on the exclusion of certain countries from the annual uplift to the UK State Pension during her visit to the UK in December 2024”.
In a written response on November 15, Pension Minister Emma Reynolds, said: “There are currently no plans to hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on this issue.”
She continued: “The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
“Up-rating is based on levels of earnings growth and price inflation in the UK which has no direct relevance where the pensioner is resident overseas.”
Ms Reynolds continued: “Over many years, priority is given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.
“People move abroad for many reasons and this can have an impact on their finances. However, the decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual.”
She added: “For a number of years, advice has been provided to the public that the UK State Pension is not uprated overseas except where there is a legal requirement to do so. HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions publish information on the Government website.”
State Pension payments 2025/26
The new payment rates will be applied on April 7, 2025.
Full New State Pension
Weekly payment: £230.25 (from £221.20)
Four-weekly payment: £921 (from £884.80)
Annual amount: £11,973 (from £11,502)
Full Basic State Pension
Weekly payment: £176.45 (from £169.50)
Four-weekly payment: £705.80 (from £678)
Annual amount: £9,175 (from £8,814)
A total of 32 UK parliamentarians have signed a pledge calling on the UK Prime Minister to meet Mrs Puckridge during her visit to the UK in December, including 14 members of the Labour Party.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are deeply proud of our veterans and their families for the contribution they make to our country. Theirs is the ultimate public service, and their professionalism and bravery is rightly respected across the world.
“We understand people move abroad for many reasons, and we provide clear information on how this can impact their finances in retirement - with the policy on the uprating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas a longstanding one.”
You can view the full petition on Change.org here.
