The Treasury Minister insists that a standalone vote on reforms to the triple lock state pension will not fundamentally affect the rest of the Budget.

In the House of Keys this week, MHKs voted unanimously to split out a vote on the annual updating of the new Manx State Pension from the rest of the Budget.

Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson voted for the move, despite having earlier said that the state pension proposals were an ‘intrinsic’ part of the next week’s Budget.

He told Media IoM there will now be a separate order paper produced with the vote just on this issue to allow Tynwald members to debate and vote on this while still supporting the rest of the Budget.

Dr Allinson said: ‘It is an intrinsic part of the long-term sustainability narrative but if it was not able to be introduced it would not fundamentally affect the rest of the Budget.’

Onchan MHK Julie Edge had tabled the motion in the Keys calling for any future uprating of the Manx State Pension to be subject to a separate motion and not implemented as part of the Budget process.

She argued it was ‘both unacceptable and deeply unfair’ that UK-born pensioners could end up receiving higher payments than Manx-born pensioners.

‘I refuse to allow this proposal to be buried in the small print of the budget.’ She told MHKs.

The proposed changes would see the Isle of Man drop the triple-lock pension guarantee for those who retired after 2019.

Under a proposed Manx pension guarantee, their state pension will instead rise annually by either CPI inflation or 2%, whichever is higher.

Most pensioners will be unaffected as they retired before the introduction of the Manx state pension in 2019.

In the House of Keys, Dr Allinson sought to clarify the Treasury’s position, insisting that the plans would ‘not scrap the triple-lock’ but rather ‘deal with those people who have retired since 2019 who are now on the Manx state pension and who are already claiming a significantly increased pension than the one that preceded it.’

He added: ‘It is the spirit of intergenerational fairness which the future of the scheme must consider.’

Without intervention, the NI Fund - which currently stands at £1.09bn - will become exhausted in just over 20 years’ time, by 2047-48.

National Insurance is the third largest source of government revenue and pays for the majority of pensions and benefits as well as contributing to the funding of the Manx NHS.

Dr Allinson had promised a national debate on the reforms but a number of MHKs criticised the way the government has communicated and consulted.

Glenfaba and Peel MHK Kate Lord-Brennan tabled an amendment calling for no changes to be made to the triple lock policy as part of the Budget process and instead these should be subject to public consultation before a policy proposal is brought for Tynwald debate and approval in June.

Her amendment was rejected 13 votes to 11.