State pensions are going up by £550 - here's why the triple lock has nothing to do with it

“Pensioners will get more money next year thanks to our commitment to the triple lock.”

This is the post that Chancellor Rachel Reeves made on social media platform X this morning.

She is referring to the pre-Budget announcement that the Government will increase the full new state pension by an above-inflation figure of £550 per year from next April.

The figure is in line with average earnings growth this summer, and under the Government’s triple lock pledge, the state pension rises by the highest of average earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5 per cent every April.

At 4.8 per cent, earnings growth was the highest and so this is the amount the state pension will go up by next spring.

The Government has committed to keeping the triple lock – in place since 2011 – for the remainder of t