The head of the independent state pension age review, John Cridland, has said he is not in favour of introducing a means tested state pension because it is the ‘bedrock’ which everyone can build on.

At the International Longevity Centre’s Future of Ageing conference today, Cridland was asked by Intergenerational Foundation co-founder Angus Hanton whether there is a case for a means tested state pension to reduce some of the burden on the younger generation.

In response, giving some context to the argument, Cridland noted that when the Turner Commission was undertaken 10 years’ ago, the state pension was becoming less generous as the government was trying to reduce the cost of the state pension to the exchequer and private pensions were falling away because of the decline in DB.

“Ten years on I think the story is much more positive, we now have a better state pension, some may argue a recovery from a lower base,” he said. Cridland also noted that we are seeing the beginning of recovery in private pensions with the introduction of auto-enrolment.

He argued that the state pension, as the last remaining universal benefit, has a “great utility in providing a bedrock for everybody on which people need to do more”.

“Means testing the state pension would clearly save some money but it would move away from that central principle that at least at the age of retirement, however unfortunate you have been with savings or your health, you have got something,” he explained.

Furthermore, he said he was against having a different state pension age in different parts of the country. He noted that differences matter most within areas, not between areas, citing an 18 year life expectancy gap within different parts of London.

However, he said he has asked the question about the “continued utility” of a single state pension age, especially as the number of pensioners will rise from 13 million to 16.6 million, but he is against changing it because of the complexity it would bring.

He said one of the biggest compromises that the state pension in the future will either be access or generosity.

He stated that the review is looking at setting the retirement age for Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1979, who will retire in the late 2030s and early 2040s.

In response, Hanton, who asked the question told Pensions Age : "John Cridland and others wring their hands about the plight of poorer pensioners but they insist that their own social group of wealthy baby boomers, and those receiving generous defined benefit pensions, should continue to pick up this £6,000-a-year welfare handout."

"John Cridland was right today to question the triple lock which over a few years will substantially increase the state pension burden in real terms. From an intergenerational fairness point of view this demonstrates how the older generation is exploiting the good nature of the younger generation. Our surveys suggest that most economists don't believe the state pension will exist in its current form when young people themselves reach retirement age.

"It's puzzling why the government still want to pay the state pension as a welfare payment to everyone however well-off, including the 2 million or so people over 60 (when they reach state retirement age) who live in households with over £1m of assets.

"John Cridland's analysis is very good but what's needed is a proper formula so that the state pension age rises fully in line with increases in life expectancy - at the moment we are continuing to allow people to retire too early - placing an unfair extra burden on younger people - the 'packhorse generation'. It's arguable that the state pension age should already be starting with a 7."

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