Continually
increasing
the
state
pension
age
(SPA)
beyond
the
government’s
existing
legislative
timetable
will
have
a
real-world
impact
upon
poorer
citizens
who
may
stand
no
chance
of
reaching
retirement,
the
pensions
minister
has
warned.
Speaking
at
an
event
run
by
Leith-based
financial
consultancy
firm
The
Lang
Cat
in
London,
Paul
Maynard,
who
is
member
of
parliament
for
Blackpool
North
and
Cleveleys
and
parliamentary
undersecretary
at
the
Department
for
Work
&
Pensions
(DWP),
was
asked
about
a
new
report
from
the
International
Longevity
Centre.
It
had
argued
in
favour
of
increasing
the
SPA
to
71
to
ensure
state
retirement
benefits
are
properly
funded.
“In
the
UK
state
pension
age
would
need
to
be
70
or
71
compared
with
66
now
to
maintain
the
status
quo
of
the
constant
number
of
workers
per
state
pensioner,”
the
ILC
said.
But
in
conversation
with
Tom
McPhail,
The
Lang
Cat’s
director
of
public
affairs,
Maynard
said
that,
while
he
had
not
yet
read
the
report
in
full,
he
was
cautious
about
implementing
its
recommendations
because
of
his
own
constituents.
“Every
report
gets
printed
out
for
my
weekend
box
and
there’s
about
five
going
in
it
this
weekend
so
I
haven’t
read
it
in
great
detail
yet,”
he
said.
“But
what
I
have
seen
–
what
struck
me
was
–
it
was
looking
particularly
at
the
old
age
dependency
ratio
[and]
on
what
that
needed
to
be
in
order
to
fulfil
their
own
view
of
what
is
financially
sustainable.
“I
think
that
there
are
parts
of
my
constituency
–
I
don’t
know
if
people
have
ever
been
to
Blackpool
to
visit
the
seafront
and
the
tower.
You
go
50
yards
back,
you
are
in
the
poorest
ward
in
the
country.
The
ward
I
represent
in
Claremont
has
a
healthy
life
expectancy
for
men
of
53.
So
people
my
age
are
dropping
out
of
the
workforce.
“I’m
conscious
that
merely
upping
and
upping
the
state
pension
age
might
not
always
be
the
right
answer,
and
I
know
we
need
to
look
at
how
Covid-19
has
impacted
as
well,
and
the
patterns
of
life
expectancy,
before
we
start
making
ambitious
discussions
about
what
happens
next”.
SPA
is
currently
66,
and
is
set
to
rise
to
67
by
March
2028
and
68
by
2046.
However,
SPA
rises
have
been
an
almost-continual
topic
of
discussion
in
the
wake
of
the
government’s
state
pension
“equalization”
policy
of
2016,
and
the
almost-continual
reminders
thereafter
of
stretched
government
finances
and
the
cost
of
pandemic
support.
Last
year
the
DWP
announced
the
results
of
its
latest
independent
review
of
SPA,
concluding
it
would
not
launch
further
legislative
changes.
But
a
new
review
in
2026
will
look
at
census
data
and
analysis
of
the
impact
of
the
pandemic
on
life
expectancy.
“Obviously
when
the
government
commissions
its
independent
review
of
the
state
pension
age
it
looks
at
a
slightly
wider
range
of
considerations,
including
changes
in
life
expectancy
and
indeed
wider
workforce
changes,”
Maynard
said.
“I
think
we
need
to
deliver
what
we’ve
agreed
upon,
but
I
think
–
and
I
know
from
the
inbox
I’ve
seen
overnight
–
comments
like
the
ones
in
that
report
do
genuinely
concern
people
out
in
the
real
world,
who
think
‘oh
God,
can
I
really
work
until
71?'”
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