Department for Work and Pensions

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a strategic objective to enable industry to innovate safely to prevent major incidents, supporting the move towards Net Zero. As part of this objective HSE is working to review and understand key technologies, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

HSE is currently reviewing the evidence on safety for the potential use of 100% hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas. HSE understands that the full evidence base for blending hydrogen in the transmission network is not due to be completed until December 2024. HSE is working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to ensure HSE's resources are appropriately deployed to support Government’s net zero priorities.

Forecast expenditure on Disability benefits are only available by financial year, in 2025/26 they’re forecast to be £43.8 billion, and £46.4 billion in 2026-27. (Figures quoted in real terms based on 2024/25 prices).

Disability benefits expenditure covers Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, and Attendance Allowance. Full details of this expenditure can be found in the published Outturn and Forecast Tables.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2024 to question number 6515. The answer can be found here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

(a) Table 1 shows the number of estimated eligible qualifiers across 2024.

Table 1: Number of Estimated Eligible Recipients in England and Wales

Due to the nature of eligibility, we are unable to breakdown to the household level.

(b) Tables 2 and 3 show the breakdown of weekly payments made in 2024- these are from the 2023/24 season running from the 1^st November 2023-31^st March 2024 and the start of the 2024/25 season 1^st-22^nd November 2024.

Table 2: Payments made to estimated qualifiers in England and Wales, 2024- from the 2023/24 season.

Table 3: Payments made to Estimated Qualifiers in England and Wales so Far- from the 2024/25 season.

Please note-

1) Figures are estimated based on the number of individuals eligible at the start of the season. See the methodology document for further details,

and guidance on how to estimate the number of payments and expenditure, here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-estimates-2023-to-2024/background-and-methodology-cold-weather-payment-estimates-2023-to-2024

2) Figures are shown by the week or month the payment was triggered - that is, the day that the recorded/forecasted temperatures for the seven

day period caused payments to be authorised. The recipient should receive the payment within 14 days.

3) All volumes are rounded to the nearest 1,000

4) The figures include claimants meeting the legacy benefit and Universal Credit eligibility criteria for Cold Weather Payments.

Future publications for the 2024-25 Cold Weather Season can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-estimates-2024-to-2025

(a) In Bolsover constituency, fewer than 10 households had a Non-Consensual Conception exception to the policy in April 2024.

(b) In Derbyshire, 50 households had a Non-Consensual Conception exception to the policy in April 2024.

(c) In England, 2,300 households had a Non-Consensual Conception exception to the policy in April 2024.

Notes:

Base: Universal Credit households that had an assessment period that ended in April 2024.

Data for April 2024 is latest available, in line with the most recent published data on this policy.

DWP does not hold data on CTC households affected by the two-child limit.

Figures rounded to two significant figures (to a minimum of 10), and values less than 10 are suppressed in line with disclosure rules.

Derbyshire area in (b) calculated as the sum of the following Local Authorities: Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derby, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak, North East Derbyshire, South Derbyshire

This Government remains completely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

DWP uses a wide range of channels including information on Gov.uk, in letters, leaflets and via telephone to communicate information to older people about pensioner benefits, including how to claim, and signposts to devolved provision where appropriate. Where there is devolved provision for pensioner support, the Devolved Governments provide their own information and communications.

Security in retirement is a key priority for this Government.

AE has seen over 11.1 million people automatically enrolled into a workplace pension to date and more than 2.4 million employers have complied with their legal duties. This has helped to deliver an additional £43 billion being saved into pensions in 2023 compared to 2012 (in 2023 earnings terms) for eligible individuals.

We will consider if and when to make changes to AE, balancing the need for improved pension outcomes with the effects on businesses

Statistics on the number of pensioners living in relative and absolute poverty are not available at a constituency level.

Statistics on the number of pensioners living in relative and absolute poverty at regional level are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Rodenticides Stewardship Scheme was developed by The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use and is overseen by the Government Oversight Group for Rodenticide Stewardship (GOG), chaired by the Health and Safety Executive. The GOG is conducting a review of rodenticide stewardship, under which it will consider all appropriate evidence. The detailed work of this review is expected to be completed in 2025.

This Government remains completely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners, ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they need; this includes people with a terminal illness who are eligible. There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria.

To ensure that Winter Fuel Payments are received by those on the lowest incomes, the Government is determined to do everything it can to maximise take-up of Pension Credit which provides a safety net for the pensioners on the lowest incomes and opens the door to other benefits including the Winter Fuel Payment.

For disabled pensioners or those with long-term health conditions, the “extra costs” disability benefits, including those provided for by the Scottish Government, provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid in addition to any other benefits received.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment and without serving waiting periods – and, in most cases, they receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.

‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Policy’ describes the Government’s approach to developing the Child Poverty Strategy. This sets out how increasing financial resilience for low-income families is one of the four key themes where the Child Poverty Taskforce is working to develop policies to reduce child poverty.

The Taskforce is working with a range of stakeholders, including financial institutions, charities, and consumer representatives to find solutions to problem debt and enable families to build savings.

Spending on Access to Work was around £257.8m in 2023/24, a real-terms increase of 33% compared to 2022/23, and it has increased every year since 2021/22. The Department is working through how to allocate its funding settlement from the 2024 Spending Review for 2025/26. At the Spending Review next year, funding for years beyond that will be agreed.

To support more disabled people and those with health conditions to enter and stay in work, as part of the Get Britain Working plans, the Government is launching Keep Britain Working. This is an independent review into the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces.

We are committed to reducing wait times for Access to Work, and we have deployed additional staff to process claims and streamlined our delivery processes. We prioritise customers starting a job in four weeks.

Access to Work continues to be in high demand and we recognise that further work is needed to ensure that it is providing a timely and effective service for customers.

The latest available take-up estimates for Income-related benefits is available on Gov.uk: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up - GOV.UK and covers the financial year 2022/2023.

Data on how many Pension Credit applications made between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024 was recently published on gov.uk, Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK.

On 28 October 2024, The Department announced updated Pension Credit applications and award statistics will be published on 28 November 2024. This publication will provide application volumes up to 17 November 2024.

Please note, we do not currently hold this information at Regional or Constituency level.

Notes:

Base: Universal Credit households that had an assessment period that ended in April of each year.

Data for April 2024 is latest available, in line with the most recent published data on this policy.

DWP does not hold data on CTC households affected by the two-child limit.

Figures rounded to two significant figures (to a minimum of 10), and values less than 10 are suppressed in line with disclosure rules.

The difference between these figures and published statistics for Bolsover constituency is because the published stats are for those that do not receive some amount of child element due to the policy, whereas these figures include households that have an exception for all children affected by the policy.

The Department for Work and Pensions uses internal management information on finalised applications to oversee performance against our aspiration to process applications in 25 days.

The Access to Work scheme continues to be in high demand, and we are considering options for how to improve waiting times for customers.

The requested information is not readily available. We are, however, exploring the feasibility of developing suitable statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit claimants.

EU citizens present in the UK at the end of the Transition Period but with less than 5 year’s continuous residence have been able to apply for pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. They can access disability benefits and, if they are exercising a qualifying right to reside, for example as a worker or self-employed, they can access income related benefits.

EU citizens who have arrived in the UK since the end of the Transition Period will be subject to the same rules as citizens from the rest of the world. They typically have no recourse to public funds for the first five years and cannot access income related, disability or carer benefits.

Those who have made sufficient national insurance contributions can access contributory benefits.

The requested information is not readily available. We are, however, exploring the feasibility of developing suitable statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit claimants.

EU citizens present in the UK at the end of the Transition Period but with less than 5 year’s continuous residence have been able to apply for pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. They can access disability benefits and, if they are exercising a qualifying right to reside, for example as a worker or self-employed, they can access income related benefits.

EU citizens who have arrived in the UK since the end of the Transition Period will be subject to the same rules as citizens from the rest of the world. They typically have no recourse to public funds for the first five years and cannot access income related, disability or carer benefits.

Those who have made sufficient national insurance contributions can access contributory benefits.

We have provided the information requested in the table below. Staffing figures (as of 31^st October 2024) are provided as Full Time Equivalence (FTE):

The information you have requested is not held centrally and will have to be provided by operational teams. Gathering this data would incur disproportionate costs.

There are two types of maternity pay available to pregnant working women which offer a measure of financial security to help them take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth:

• Statutory Maternity Pay paid by employers
• Maternity Allowance paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to eligible women (including the self-employed and women in employment who are not eligible for SMP).

The DWP wants new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing. For this reason, maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provision for pregnant working women. It is not, and has never been, intended to replace a woman's earnings completely nor is it intended to help with the cost of having a baby; rather, it provides a measure of financial security to help pregnant working women to take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth. As such, maternity pay is paid for each pregnancy, not in respect of each child.

Additional financial support is available depending on individual circumstances, such as Universal Credit and Child Benefit. The Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available. For more information about benefits and financial support available to pregnant women and their families can be found on www.gov.uk via the Childcare and Parenting link on the home page.

In order to receive taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payments, an individual must either be a British or Irish citizen or hold a valid UK immigration status that allows them to access such benefits. If DWP is made aware of a change in a customer’s circumstances, either by the customer directly or by another government department (such as the Home Office), then the relevant claim will be reviewed. This includes if immigration status is cancelled due to criminality, or if a customer is sent to prison/young offenders’ institution or is in custody awaiting trial (on remand).

If a customer is sent to prison, all benefit payments except the following will stop: housing payments part of Universal Credit (in some cases), tax credits and Child Benefit (in some cases), Housing Benefit (for shorter sentences), and council tax assistance (if eligible). Additional information on benefit eligibility whilst in prison or remand is available at: https://www.gov.uk/benefits-and-prison/benefits-that-stop-or-are-suspended.

If immigration status ends, they will lose entitlement to benefits.

Our Service Leader for East Anglia is very happy to explore the potential to deliver job club/job search sessions at St Neots Citizen Hub. Our Partnership Manager for Cambridge, Huntingdon, Ely and Haverhill has already established a relationship with the Citizens Hub in St Neots having attended an event on 21^st November. There is an additional meeting planned in December to investigate how the Jobcentre and Citizens Hub can work closely together, including having Jobcentre colleagues within the Hub.

The Department is significantly increasing the resource on Pension Credit to ensure it processes claims as quickly as possible, with approximately 500 additional staff being deployed to support the increase in applications generated from the successful Pension Credit take-up campaign.

The Department currently works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims.

Average Actual Clearance Times are measured weekly. The table below shows Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) from the end of week commencing 2nd September to the end of week commencing 21st October, in working days.

Please note.

• The data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
• These figures will not align to previous PQ responses due to retrospective updates as the data is sourced from live systems.

The Department publishes estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system by financial year. These statistics for the last five years are available at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK

Below is an extract:

We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG are increasing funding for homelessness services from next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). Levels of Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation are kept under review and future decisions will be taken in the context of the government’s missions, goals on housing and the current fiscal context.

We are aware that many claimants are waiting a long time for their award review.

Due to competing priorities and limited resources, we are currently prioritising getting new claims into payment as quickly as possible to ensure financial support is provided for those who need it.

Most award review decisions are now made without the need for an assessment by a Healthcare Professional, where we have sufficient information, which helps to reduce the time taken to process many cases.

For those waiting for a review, we keep them informed and continue to extend awards where necessary, to ensure claims remain in payment. This also ensures continuity of entitlement to Motability vehicles and blue badges for those who need it.

We take our responsibility to ensure all individuals have access to our services without disadvantage, very seriously. We have a range of provisions in place to ensure assessments are accessible to all individuals, including those with brain injury and neurological conditions, in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010.

Health assessments are designed to treat all individuals with health conditions and impairments fairly. The assessment criteria take account of the impact of all impairments on an individual’s ability to carry out a broad range of everyday activities.

As part of the functional health assessment process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance for all cases. Health professionals (HPs) may contact GPs, any named specialist medical professionals or the claimant if they need more information to undertake a paper-based review. In the circumstances that a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment. Before an invitation to assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances.

Companions are encouraged to attend and can play an active role during the assessment. This is helpful for claimants with mental, cognitive, or intellectual impairments who may not be able to provide an accurate account of their condition, due to a lack of understanding or unrealistic expectations of their ability. Companions can join the telephony assessment, as they would have for a face-to-face assessment. All assessment suppliers have introduced the capacity for four-way calls for assessments. This means the claimant and the HP can be joined by a companion or advocate as well as an interpreter if required. This gives claimants the opportunity to have the appropriate support during a remote assessment.

We take our responsibility to ensure all individuals have access to our services without disadvantage, very seriously. We have a range of provisions in place to ensure assessments are accessible to all individuals, including those with brain injury and neurological conditions, in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010.

Health assessments are designed to treat all individuals with health conditions and impairments fairly. The assessment criteria take account of the impact of all impairments on an individual’s ability to carry out a broad range of everyday activities.

As part of the functional health assessment process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance for all cases. Health professionals (HPs) may contact GPs, any named specialist medical professionals or the claimant if they need more information to undertake a paper-based review. In the circumstances that a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment. Before an invitation to assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances.

Companions are encouraged to attend and can play an active role during the assessment. This is helpful for claimants with mental, cognitive, or intellectual impairments who may not be able to provide an accurate account of their condition, due to a lack of understanding or unrealistic expectations of their ability. Companions can join the telephony assessment, as they would have for a face-to-face assessment. All assessment suppliers have introduced the capacity for four-way calls for assessments. This means the claimant and the HP can be joined by a companion or advocate as well as an interpreter if required. This gives claimants the opportunity to have the appropriate support during a remote assessment.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continually reviews the service it provides to ensure it best meets the needs of its customers.

The aim of CMS is to create a modern, accessible service through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, allowing customers to have greater choice of how and when they contact us.

CMS regularly gathers feedback from customers through the Customer Experience Survey to understand their experiences. This insight is then used to inform ways to review and improve our service.

The information requested is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. English for Speakers of Other Languages and other skills data is held by Department for Education for England only. Devolved administrations will hold data on participants on ESOL courses.

Access to Work applications are reviewed by Case Managers who work with customers to understand what barriers they may be experiencing within the workplace in relation to their health condition or disability. Staff take part in training events that provide them with information on a range of disabilities and health conditions so that they can better understand the challenges experienced by applicants.

When required, staff will work with specialist teams that help to identify customers who are vulnerable or have complex needs who require more advanced support.

We are aware of the challenge some people face in finding shared accommodation, and we are working across government to find appropriate solutions including engaging with the newly formed Inter-Ministerial Group on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.

The Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) applies to those claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who are under 35 years of age, living on their own, and renting privately. These individuals will be entitled to the SAR regardless of the size of property they rent.

There are exemptions from the SAR for those who would find it difficult to share accommodation. The exemptions are not designed to tackle supply challenges and therefore we are not considering an exemption for those leaving asylum accommodation. Exempt individuals can claim the higher one-bedroom LHA rate, and these include former residents of homeless hostels and victims of modern slavery.

The homeless hostel exemption was introduced in 2012 to support former rough sleepers following the increase in the SAR from age 25 to 35. The exemption supports homeless people and former rough sleepers to find suitable, stable move on accommodation after receiving appropriate care, supervision and support for at least 3 months within a hostel for homeless people.

The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including Down’s syndrome, with their employment journey.

The Government has ambitious plans around employment, including disability employment, set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, published this week, and the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. We know that there is more to do to address the labour market challenges of today and tomorrow.

A fully inclusive labour market that enables disabled people and people with health conditions to have access to the same opportunities as everyone else to the benefits of work is crucial to meeting our ambition for an 80% employment rate. As part of the Get Britain Working Plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

There are a number of initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, these include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and the Work and Health Programme, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme. As part of the Get Britain Working plans the Government is launching Keep Britain Working, an independent review into the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces.

Improving employment outcomes for people of all ages will play an important part in the government’s economic growth and opportunity missions. We are reforming jobcentres, so they match people, including older workers, to the right job and combine employment skills and career focused support.

This new jobs and careers service will transform our ability to support people into work and help people get on at work across Great Britain. We will set out more details about this and other labour market reforms through our forthcoming White Paper to Get Britain Working.

The Government is delivering a package of support to help older workers, including those in Newbury, to remain in and return to work.

Our jobcentres provide tailored support for older workers, including a review of health, finances and skills. In addition, over seventy 50Plus Champions are working in Districts across Great Britain, to drive local activity for older workers.

All these transactions would fall into the ‘Barrier Spend’ Category which is where the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) should be considered to remove barriers that are; preventing claimants from moving closer to the job market, hindering a claimant’s search for work, preventing a claimant from accepting a firm job offer or moving into self-employment or preventing them from increasing their earnings, through increased hours or job change.

Examples of ‘barrier spend’ may include smart clothing for interviews or to start work, essential work wear (excluding safety wear as it is the employer’s duty to provide this), essential tools and equipment for specialist roles/sectors (ie chef’s knives). This could also include travel costs where the inability to afford travel is preventing access to an employment opportunity.

The SE online transactions are all for the purchase of ‘Travel expenses’ from the supplier ‘Southeastern Railways’. FSF travel payments can be made in advance if it removes the barrier of arriving to, and sustaining, employment. This includes customers taking on additional job(s) or additional hours in current job(s).

All these transactions would fall into the ‘Barrier Spend’ Category which is where the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) should be considered to remove barriers that are a) preventing claimants from moving closer to the job market, b) hindering a claimant’s search for work, c) preventing a claimant from accepting a firm job offer or moving into self-employment or d) preventing them from increasing their earnings, either through increased hours or job change.

Examples of ‘barrier spend’ may include smart clothing for interviews or to start work, essential work wear (excluding safety wear as it is the employer’s duty to provide this), essential tools and equipment for specialist roles/sectors (ie chef’s knives). This could also include travel costs where the inability to afford travel is preventing access to an employment opportunity.

The Trainline transactions are all for the purchase of ‘travel expenses’. Trainline often offers the most price effective ways of travel. FSF travel payments can be made in advance if it removes the barrier of arriving to and sustaining employment. This includes customers taking on additional job(s) or additional hours in current job(s). Most of these transactions were for a monthly pass to allow someone to start employment within London. After the first monthly wage, they would then be able to sustain their own travel costs.

The information you have requested is not on a central system. Gathering this information would require input from team leaders and will incur disproportionate costs.

Within the Civil Service Code and re-iterated within the DWP’s Standards of Behaviour policy, is the statement that all Civil Servants must consistently demonstrate honesty, integrity, objectivity and impartiality in their conduct.

DWP does not hold data on the number of claimants that were not UK citizens when claiming Maternity Allowance. This is because the qualifying conditions for Maternity Allowance are based on a woman's recent employment and earnings, not on their nationality.

For the year 2023/24 the caseload for Maternity Allowance was 48,000. For more information on caseloads, please see Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression.

Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority.

We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out in the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.

Meanwhile, care leavers who are in receipt of Universal Credit and available for work will continue to be supported by the DWP Youth Offer. This provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16-24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group and can include access to specialist work coaches, for example the Youth Employability Coaches, which help address complex barriers to work, as well as the partnership led Youth Hub network.

We have also taken steps to improve the career opportunities of care leavers through government recruitment schemes such as the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship, the Social Mobility Apprenticeship Scheme and our ongoing partnership with Movement to Work. These are all designed to consider challenges disadvantaged young people face as they take their first steps on the career ladder.

Data on how many Pension Credit applications we received by the Department between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024 was recently published on gov.uk. This data is published at National level. It is not currently possible to provide application data at a sub-national or constituency level. Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 1 September 2024

On 28 October 2024, the Department announced updated Pension Credit applications and award statistics will be published on 28 November 2024. This publication will provide Pension Credit applications and also awards statistics since 1 April 2024, again at national level.

Published Statistics Announcement - Pension Credit Applications and awards November 2024

Our communications campaign to promote Pension Credit has been running since September. The latest phase of the campaign takes a new approach targeting friends and family - asking them to tell people they know about Pension Credit, encourage them to check their eligibility, as well as help them make a claim. It will appear on TV, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube and on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens.

We continue to focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment or the pension age winter heating payment in Scotland.

The Government has also written to around 11.5 million pensioners about the change to the eligibility rules for the Winter Fuel Payment and informing them about Pension Credit. We have also directly targeted 120,000 pensioner households in receipt of Housing Benefit, identified as being potentially entitled to, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

As part of our wider stakeholder outreach campaign and in order to get the message out through as many channels as possible, we have engaged with key stakeholders and partners, including other government departments, local councils, housing associations, community groups, local libraries and service providers as well as charities and third sector organisations.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. DWP uses a wide range of channels including information on Gov.uk, in letters, leaflets and via telephone to communicate information to older people about pensioner benefits.

Disability Living Allowance is aimed at providing additional help with the extra costs of disability to people who are severely disabled early, or relatively early, in life and who as a result, have had fewer opportunities to work, earn and save. Those who become disabled, or develop mobility needs, after reaching the age of 65 will have had no disadvantage on grounds of their disability during their working lives. It is normal for pensions and benefits systems to contain different provisions for people at different stages of their lives, because the help provided needs to reflect varying priorities and circumstances.

We will keep the policies of the department under review, to ensure they meet current needs.