Government to fast-track state pension changes

Chancellor George Osborne is to bring forward the introduction of the flat-rate state pension and the cap on social care by a year.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show the planned £144 per week state pension will now begin in April 2016 rather than 2017. The cap on social care, which will now be set at £72,000 instead of £75,000, will also come into force in 2016. He will use Wednesday's Budget to make the announcements. The Treasury estimates the shift will bring 400,000 more people into the simplified state pension system. Osborne said: "It's a huge boost for people who want to save for their retirement." Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail said: “This will be welcome news for the t...