Independent report

Third Review of State Pension age: Independent Report Terms of Reference

Published 21 July 2025

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1. Purpose

1.1. The government is required by the Pensions Act 2014 to conduct a periodic review of State Pension age. The Independent Report is a requirement prepared for the Secretary of State on specified factors relevant to the review.

1.2. The purpose of this Independent Report is to make recommendations on a framework to allow the Secretary of State to consider future State Pension age arrangements in the light of the long-term demographic pressures the country faces.

2. Scope

2.1. The Independent Report is required to consider the key factors government should consider in determining State Pension age for future decades, balancing consideration of fairness and sustainability. In particular, the Independent Report should consider these factors:

  • the merits of linking State Pension age to life expectancy, including on fairness between generations 

  • the role of State Pension age in managing the long-term sustainability of the State Pension.

  • the international experience of automatic adjustment mechanisms (AAM) for making decisions about State Pension age.

2.2. The Independent Report should:

  • provide a comprehensive evidence base to support findings, including impact assessments on different groups of people, across regions and nations and across time

  • report on the views of organisations and expert opinion including those who have an interest in the wider social and economic impacts of an ageing society; and the report that will be produced by the Government Actuary’s Department on the proportion of adult life in retirement

3. Deliverables

3.1. The Independent Report:

  • should deliver a set of factors, and their relative weighting if appropriate, which the government should consider when reporting to Parliament on an appropriate State Pension age. These should be part of an enduring framework which underpins the pay as you go State Pension system

  • should assume that current policies regarding the entitlement and value of State Pension remain unchanged over the long-term

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