The Treasury Minister will be grilled in the House of Keys this week over plans to scrap the triple lock for some state pensioners.

Plans to end the triple lock for anyone who has retired after April 2019 will go for Tynwald approval as part of this month’s Budget.

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.

They will continue to see their retirement pension increase in line with the UK’s triple lock, which ensures it goes up each year by either 2.5%, inflation, or earnings growth.

No fewer than four questions and one motion about the state pension reforms have been tabled for the Keys.

Onchan MHK Julie Edge will ask if the changes comply with the Equality Act and will query how many pensioners will continue to benefit from the triple lock.

Her motion calls for the proposal not to be implemented as part of the Budget process but made subject to a separate debate.

But Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson said the proposals were an ‘intrinsic part of the Budget’.

He acknowledged there had been some ‘misconceptions’ about the plans.

Dr Allinson said: ‘I’ve been approached by quite a few worried pensioners and assured them that if they retired before 2019, this doesn’t affect them. If they are new pensioners who retired since 2019 then if I we do nothing their pension could be in jeopardy.’

The change is being driven by the need to preserve the National Insurance Fund for future generations.

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.

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

In the Keys, Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas will ask whether there are plans to reduce the NI Fund size by around £500m.

Dr Allinson insisted: ‘There are no plans to raid the fund, there are no plans to take money out of the fund.’

However, he confirmed that as part of the Budget, there are proposals to review the NHS allocation in the short term to meet the increased costs of the NHS.

‘There are plans to look at that allocation and update it to make sure it’s sufficient now,’ Dr Allinson said.

He pointed out that the island’s health service has had £100m in supplementary votes over the last five years. In last year’s Budget, 2p was put on the higher rate of income tax with the increased revenue raised ringfenced for the Manx NHS.

This was to be replaced with a new NHS levy but this appears to be some way off still, with Dr Allinson admitting introducing the measure has been more complicated than initially thought.

Despite extra funding, Manx Care is forecasting a £15.8m overspend this year and will be seeking a supplementary vote to cover the shortfall.