Jeremy Hunt confirms Universal Credit and pension rises for 2024 with '£470 boost for' families on benefits

Millions of households will receive hundreds of pounds extra in benefits next year, the government has confirmed.

Jeremy Hunt announced during his autumn statement on Wednesday that Universal Credit and other benefits, managed by the Department of Work and Pensions, will rise by 6.7% from next April. The chancellor said this would be an “average increase of £470 for 5.5 million households next year”.

This number is in line with September's inflation figure.

Het also confirmed that the government will honour its commitment to the triple lock “in full” by increasing the state pension by 8.5%, worth up to £900 more a year.

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“The triple lock has helped lift 250,000 older people out of poverty since it was instituted in 2011 and been a lifeline for many during a period of high inflation.

“There have been reports that we would uprate it by a lower amount to smooth out the effect of high public sector bonuses in July, but that would have been particularly difficult for one million pensioners whose only income is from the state.

“So instead, today we honour our commitment to the triple lock in full. From April 2024, we will increase the full new state pension by 8.5% to £221.20 a week, worth up to £900 more a year. That is one of the largest ever cash increases to the state pension – showing a Conservative government will always back our pensioners.”

Mr Hunt also told the Commons: “After a global pandemic and energy crisis, we have taken difficult decisions to put our economy back on track.

“We have supported families with rising bills, cut borrowing and halved