State pension payments increase to £124 average

The basic state pension will increase from £102.15 to £107.45 a week from today and will equate to about 17% of average earnings. The government said it is spending an extra £4.5bn on pensioners through the uprating of their benefits this year. Pensions minister Steve Webb said: "My first concern is to make sure our pensioners have a decent income in retirement. "Uprating the basic state pension by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5% will have a dramatic impact in driving up the value of the state pension. This is one of the biggest spending commitments we have made in difficul...