Wednesday 25 February 2026, 09.30, Wilson Room,
Portcullis House
The Work and Pensions Committee will hear from academic experts,
trade unionists and disability groups on how to ease the impact
of the imminent State Pension Age rise for pre-pensioners
struggling to make ends meet for its inquiry on the Transition
to State Pension age.
The Government is due to save £10bn from the pension age hike to
67 due to be phased in this April, but the last time it
increased, poverty among people in the year before qualifying for
the State Pension doubled. MPs will ask witnesses how some of
these savings can be used on alleviating poverty for the over-60s
this time round.
Many people leave the workforce before the current retirement age
of 66 due to ill-health or disability and make do with out of
work benefits until they receive the more generous State Pension.
Partly as a result of this, almost a quarter (22%) of people over
60 and short of pension age are in poverty.
With the Government's Pension Commission tasked with delivering a
fair and sustainable pensions framework, witnesses are likely to
be asked about the challenges of achieving this, and how it might
address geographical and health inequities that help to drive
pre-pension poverty.
Witnesses
From 09.30:
- Wendy Loretto, Professor of Organisational Behaviour,
University of Edinburgh Business School;
- Sarah Vickerstaff, Professor Emeritus of Work and Employment,
University of Kent;
- David Finch, Assistant Director, Health Foundation;
- Quinn Roach, Policy Lead – LGBT+ and Disabled Workers, TUC.
From 10.30 (approx.)
- Emily Holzhausen CBE, Carers UK;
- Joe Levenson, Assistant Director of UK Advocacy and Health
Intelligence, Arthritis UK;
- Charles Cotton, Senior Advisor for Pay and Reward, Chartered
Institute of Personnel Development;
- Jon Richards, Assistant General Secretary for Bargaining,
Negotiation and Equalities, UNISON.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The Government has asked Dr Suzy Morrissey to conduct an
Independent State Pension Age
review, that will consider what the rules around
determining what State Pension age should be.
-
The Pensions
Commission, relaunched by the Government in July 2025, is
tasked with driving and reducing barriers to saving for
pensions.
- You can find more on the Work and Pensions Committee's
Transition to State Pension age inquiry, including terms of
reference, past oral evidence session transcripts, written
evidence and correspondence on the inquiry webpage.
