MPs debate concerns as state pension age rises to 67 between April 2026 and 2028
MPs have been debating changes to state pension rules and how people could face varying retirement ages. The state pension age is set to rise from April 2026.
Currently, you can claim your state pension upon reaching 66, but the access age is increasing to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028. With this major shift approaching, the Work and Pensions Committee has been discussing with policy specialists the potential consequences.
A significant concern is that workers may reach a point where they’re physically unable to continue working, particularly in demanding manual roles. Yet they still face years of waiting before accessing their state pension.
The committee heard from policy advocates about the challenges confronting older employees and what additional measures could be introduced to assist them. The committee asked the panel about the suggestion the Government should offer better workplace support to sectors it can “influence most directly”, such as health, social care, and education.
Jon Richards, assistant general secretary at public service union UNISON, highlighted how the rules can vary for different workers. He said: “If you compare ambulance workers to fire and police workers, they have different retirement ages. It’s very difficult for ambulance workers, even though they are manually handling all the time, all the day, more so than police and fire workers, yet they are not able to retire as early.”
Mr Richards stated that the union carried out a survey among ambulance workers to determine what would persuade them to stay in their roles, reports the Mirror. The most frequent response was a reduction in their retirement age.
Numerous NHS staff, including ambulance crews, have their retirement age linked to the state pension age, which is due to rise beyond 67, reaching 68 between April 2044 and 2046. Some workers can choose to access reduced benefits from the age of 55, which is also the age at which private pensions can be accessed.
However, this threshold is set to increase to 57 in April 2028. Research carried out by the GMB Union in 2024 revealed that 75 per cent of ambulance workers who retired in 2023 did so before the age of 60.
By comparison, the retirement age for many police and fire service personnel is 60, although early pension access may be available in certain circumstances. Mr Richards also pointed out that initiatives to improve support within the education sector frequently overlook some vital members of staff.
He told the committee: “If you look at other sectors like education, the focus is always on teachers, professional workers, yet 50 percent of people in schools is support staff, cleaners, teaching assistants.”
He referenced a previous Department for Education study examining teachers’ mental health. Researchers believed the findings could also be applicable to teaching assistants and other school staff. Mr Richards explained that they were required to inform the department that workers such as teaching assistants function “in a completely different way” to teachers.
The policy advocate was keen to dispel a further misconception, saying: “You get this idea of public sector workers with their ‘gold-plated pensions’ and other things like that. I always say this, but the local Government pension scheme average pension is just over £5,000.”
State pensioners are set to receive a welcome boost this April thanks to the triple lock mechanism. This guarantee ensures payments increase in line with whichever is the highest of three figures: 2.5 per cent, wage growth, or inflation.
Earnings growth proved the highest measure last year, meaning pension payments will rise by 4.8 per cent from April. This will see the full new state pension climb from the current £230.25 weekly to £241.30 weekly, while the full basic state pension will increase from the present £176.45 weekly to £184.90 weekly.
