Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow North East) (SNP): There is a long-running concern, shared across the House, about getting people who are entitled to pension credit to apply for it. The uptake rate is around 60%, which means that almost £2 billion goes unclaimed every year by our older people. In Glasgow North East, that amounts to around £8 million unclaimed every year. This year is one of the hardest in living memory for the cost of living, and those on pension credit will be awarded a £650 cost of living payment. I and my constituents believe that this could act as a huge incentive for those older people to finally apply for what is, after all, their legal entitlement, but currently people have to be in receipt of pension credit by 25 May to get the payment. The petitioners therefore
“request that the House of Commons urge the Government to extend the eligibility period for recipients of Pension Credit to receive the Cost of Living Payment to the end of the fiscal year.
And the petitioners remain, etc.”
Following is the full text of the petition:
[The petition of residents of the constituency of Glasgow North East,
Declares that there is currently a low uptake of Pension Credit which has knock-on effects on receiving the Cost of Living Payment; notes that to get the first cost of living payment of £326, you must have been entitled to a payment, or later found to be entitled to a payment of a passport benefit, one of which is Pension Credit for any day in the period April 26 to May 25 2022; and further that if the eligibility period were to be extended, it could encourage people to apply for Pension Credit and receive the Cost of Living Payment.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to extend the eligibility period for recipients of Pension Credit to receive the Cost of Living Payment to the end of the fiscal year.