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The exact amount that state benefits are set to rise by next year has been confirmed following the release of the latest inflation data by the Office for National Statistics. A spike in inflation in September is expected to trigger higher than anticipated benefit increases next April - including for Universal Credit, the Mirror reports . UK inflation remained unchanged at 3.8% in September - despite the majority of economists and the Bank of England having expected inflation to rise to 4%. The inflation figure for September is particularly important, as it is normally used to help calculate how much the State Pension and many welfare benefits will rise by next April. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE The triple lock ensures the State Pension increases every April in line with whichever is the highest of earnings growth between May and July, inflation in September, or 2.5%. Wage growth for May to July was 4.8% and as this is higher than September inflation, this is the figure that will be used to increase the State Pension by next year . The Government is required to review the level of benefits each year to see if they have kept up with increases in general prices. Inflation in the year to September has generally been the measure used. That worked against recipients this April - when Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by only 1.7% - the rate of inflation in September 2024. But by April this year, the same measure of living costs had jumped to 3.5%. The September inflation number is expected to be a peak, and is likely to be lower by next April, based on current assumptions. We need to wait for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to confirm the details, and the size of the increase will also depend on the benefits you get. But in previous years, the September rate of inflation has been used to determine the uprating for most benefits. This means many benefits look set to increase by 3.8% next April. There are nine benefits which the DWP is legally required to increase in line with inflation each April. Other benefits are subject to Parliamentary approval. The benefits that are legally required to rise with inflation are: The standard allowance will be increasing by the September rate of inflation and then a further 2.3%. In cash terms the standard allowance is set to rise from £92 to £98 per week for singles and from £145 to £154 per week for couples. However, this is offset for new claimants with a long-term health condition or a disability. There is an extra payment called the "limited capability for work-related activity" element and this amount is decreasing from next April for most people who aren’t already getting it. Given September’s inflation, the Triple Lock Promise is lower than average earnings growth figure for May to July 2025 of 4.8% - meaning that in April 2026 the full rate of the new State Pension is likely to rise by £11 to £241 per week. While not every pensioner receives exactly this amount, the majority of newly retired pensioners receive the full rate of the new State Pension, or an amount very close to this. Anna Stevenson, a benefits expert at anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance above inflation was “a step in the right direction, but it comes after decades of erosion. “ She added: “Many households will still struggle to meet basic costs because rents, childcare and energy have risen far faster.” The Resolution Foundation points out that the real-terms value of the standard allowance has fallen by 10% since 2012/13 because of a jump in inflation.
