Replacing the pensions triple lock with a double lock could contribute to savings needed for the government to fund its priorities without raising taxes, says Centre for Policy Studies

As part of nine point plan to recover from COVID-19 pandemic, think tank also recommends taxing the winter fuel payment and rolling child benefit into child tax credit and universal credit

Replacing the pensions triple lock with a double lock could contribute to the savings needed for the government to fund its priorities without raising taxes, according to the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).

In a new report, Saving £30 Billion: 9 Simple Steps, the centre-right think tank sets out nine ideas which it says would deliver £30 billion a year in total, to allow the government to avoid impacting frontline services or the coronavirus (COVID-19) response without raising taxes.

Arguing that the £30 billion a year would give the Chancellor headroom to cope with the increased spending and decreased tax revenues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the CPS's recommendations include - 

• replacing the triple lock on pensions with a dual lock and removing the automatic 2.5 per cent uplift while continuing to protect pensioners’ incomes - saving around £1.5 to £2 billion per annum;
• taxing the winter fuel payment - estimated to save £400 million per annum; and
• rolling child benefit into the child tax credit system (or the child element of universal credit) - with the savings generated by not administering child benefit or the high-income child benefit charge bringing in estimated savings of £1 billion per annum.

The CPS says - 

'The Government has promised that there will be no return to austerity. But ... there is a need in times of crisis to think more strategically about what Government is doing, and identify particular areas in which it is not spending effectively – or where that spending is actually having damaging side-effects.

The cuts identified in this report will not be painless. But they are structured so as to save substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money while minimising any impact on public services – indeed, they should free up more cash to pay for them, and for the Government’s other priorities.'

For more information, see Saving £30 Billion: 9 Simple Steps from cps.org.uk