Speeches

The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the average annual cost or saving to the public purse when a British citizen chooses to retire abroad rather than remain in the UK, assuming a continuing increase in the state pension.

Lord Freud

The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.