Department for Work and Pensions

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20 August. The letter acknowledged the vital role local authorities play in supporting their communities. The Government recognises that many local authorities already do a huge amount of work to promote benefit take-up. We are asking that local authorities support our national Pension Credit campaign and help us reach those eligible pensioners who have not claimed Pension Credit, so they continue to receive an annual Winter Fuel Payment.

Building on last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial, the Department will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December backdating deadline, in order to ensure that if they are eligible they will also qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.

As part of the last week’s Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels (including Nottingham Post and Leicester Mercury, and a range of local East Midlands radio stations including Greatest Hits Radio, Smooth Radio and Gold). The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We cannot estimate the number of people who will be in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by constituency from 1 April 2025.

The Secretary of State will undertake her annual statutory review of benefits and State Pensions for the next financial year ahead of the Autumn Budget. This means that we cannot estimate what the total value of the Winter Fuel Payment and State Pension uprating will be by constituency from 1 April 2025.

The department has secured funding to support increased staffing and fund our communications strategy to support our programme of activity to drive up Pension Credit claims. The latest data available shows we have received around 38,500 Pension Credit claims in the 5 weeks since the announcement on 29th July (which is up to and including w/c 26th August).

This represents a 115% increase in Pension Credit claims received by the Department in the past 5 weeks compared to the 5 weeks before.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.

Pensioners in receipt of Attendance Allowance and on a low-income may qualify for Pension Credit if all other eligibility criteria are met. Moreover, pensioners on low incomes and in receipt of Attendance Allowance can qualify for an additional amount in Pension Credit, providing they meet the other eligibility criteria.

Entitlement to Attendance Allowance is based on the on-going need for frequent personal care and attention, or supervision to ensure personal safety, rather than on the individual’s medical condition. It is paid out of general taxation and is a tax-free, non-contributory, and non-means-tested benefit so is not affected by other income or savings.

Annual statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients and households by local authority and by Westminster parliamentary constituency are made publicly available via GOV.UK. The latest release contains data on individual and household level statistics for winter 2022 to 2023. For Winter 2022 to 2023, 24,610 people received a Winter Fuel Payment in South Suffolk constituency.

Around an estimated 10 million people in Great Britain previously entitled to Winter Fuel Payment will not receive it due to the policy reform. These are based on the 22/23 Winter Fuel Payment statistics and Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics (sources shown below).

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Great Britain from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Great Britain. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment claimants pre-policy change not claiming Pension Credit, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive Winter fuel payment.

Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the Governments Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e., taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Furthermore, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Source:

The Winter Fuel Payments statistics are published here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pension Credit data is published here: Pension Credit – Data from May 2018

The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%.

The relevant percentage increase applied to the State Pension in April 2025 is subject to a statutory review conducted by the Secretary of State. The review will typically begin in October, once the relevant indices have been published by the Office for National Statistics. On completion of the review, the Secretary of State will lay a statement in Parliament.

The estimated number of pensioner households in Gosport constituency who will lose Winter Fuel Payments is 13,577. This is based on Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics and 22/23 Winter Fuel Payment statistics, (sources below).

The estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Gosport Constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Gosport constituency. Please note that Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Please note that the Pension Credit data is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024 in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.

Furthermore, the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the Governments Pension Credit Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Sources used:

winter-fuel-payments-household-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)

Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)

Ministers in the two Departments have discussed eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments in England and Wales, as part of continuing engagement between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.

Winter Fuel Payments are a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, but the delivery infrastructure is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions. This includes the use of administrative data necessary to make the payments on behalf of the Department for Communities.

It is estimated that around 26,033 people in Arundel and South Downs constituency will be affected by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics and 22-23 for Winter Fuel Payments statistics (sources below).

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Arundel and South Downs constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Arundel and South Downs constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment claimants pre-policy change not claiming Pension Credit, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive Winter fuel payment. The Pension Credit data that is used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024, in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.

Also, the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the Pensions Credit Awareness campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals claiming Pension Credit, will be higher. This means that the estimates provided above will overstate the number of pensioners affected by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment.

In addition to that, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Sources:

The Winter Fuel Payments statistics are published here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pension Credit data is published here: Pension Credit – Data from May 2018

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These statistics were suspended for financial year ending (FYE) 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More recent caseload statistics are made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. These are published quarterly. It should be noted that any numbers regarding eligibility are estimates based on the number of Pension Credit recipients in each of the last three financial years and the estimated number of Pension Credit entitled non-recipients in each of the last three financial years).

The Government is determined to protect the poorest pensioners and target support to those in greatest need. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

We want those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including the Winter Fuel Payment. That’s why we have launched a nationwide campaign, joining forces with key partners and stakeholders to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim. Our campaign is also aimed at those who can influence, encourage and support their older family members and friends to apply.

Although it is not possible to automatically assess everyone reaching State Pension age for Pension Credit, we will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households currently receiving Housing Benefit and who we have identified – based on the data we have – may be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

The estimated total cost if all people eligible for Pension Credit claimed is around £7.6 billion, for Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2022, for Great Britain.

This has been calculated by adding the benefit expenditure for Pension Credit for 2021/2022 (Pension Credit claimed by eligible pensioners) and the estimate of pension credit unclaimed by eligible pensioners in FYE 2022.

As published in DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, an estimate of up to 880,000 families who were entitled to receive PC did not claim the benefit, and the estimate of Pension Credit unclaimed by eligible pensioners in FYE 2022 is £2.1 billion. The pension credit expenditure was an estimated £5.5 billion in 2021/2022.

Source:

Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Regulations will come into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week.

In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. However, it is not the convention for equality analyses to be published alongside secondary legislation.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control

Support is retained for those on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

We have linked Winter Fuel Payments eligibility to Pension Credit and other qualifying benefits – but not Housing Benefit – because we can pay the majority of eligible recipients automatically based on information held in the Department.

Housing Benefit is not included as a qualifying benefit since the amount that someone receives is based not only on personal circumstances but also on the amount of their rent.

The Government took account of the equality impacts in reaching its decision to link Winter Fuel Payments to receipt of Pension Credit and other qualifying income-related benefits in England and Wales from winter 2024-25.

We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.

The department will deliver this year’s winter fuel payments within the existing planned headcount and budget. This is due to linking eligibility to Winter Fuel with existing means tested benefits rather than means testing Winter Fuel separately.

In terms of administrative costs, in 2022/23 the Department for Work and Pensions spent £2.6m on the administration of Winter Fuel Payments. It is currently assessing the delivery costs current and future years.

Caseload statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. At February 2024, there were 1,528 people claiming Pension Credit in South Ribble constituency.

Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

A full Impact Assessment has not been prepared for the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2024 because there is no significant new impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies beyond their existing obligations, because they are out of scope of the legislation.

The evidential basis was based on best assessment at the time that the change would impact individual households and have no significant impact on charities or voluntary bodies.

The Government has no plans to move people from the old State Pension system to the new State Pension system.

It is not the case that everyone receiving the new State Pension (i.e. those reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016) will receive more than those under the old State Pension system. Both systems reflect the National Insurance record of the individual. Therefore, the amount people receive varies.

Carers over State Pension age on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Pension Credit. This can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amount for carers. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week, around £2,400 a year, and around 100,000 carers receive it as a part of their Pension Credit award.

We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them.

The Department has introduced the ability to make an online claim. This is in addition to telephone and paper claims. DWP Agents and third-party organisations are available to support customers with the application process. The Department is implementing a Pension Credit uptake campaign to encourage an estimate of up to 880,000 citizens who may be entitled to apply.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics, which includes estimates of the number of households eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit, cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Last week we held a Pension Credit Awareness Week of Action – joining forces with a range of partners such as Age UK, Citizens Advice, local authorities and organisations such as British Gas to promote Pension Credit and encourage take-up. The “Week of Action” had widespread national and regional media coverage.

From 16 September we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before 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.

We are working with external partners, local authorities, and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits.

They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

For those with long-term illnesses, the “extra costs” disability benefits, namely Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), 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 monthly throughout the year. AA can be worth up to £5,600 a year and recipients are free to use their benefit according to their own priorities.

Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes providing they meet the other eligibility criteria.

Our plan to get Britain Working includes a Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or employment support. This will sit alongside; a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people.

We have not yet made any assessment on the potential role of small and medium sized enterprises and community interest companies in helping to deliver the Youth Guarantee. In the early development stages, we will engage with our stakeholders who represent young people on the design and delivery of the Youth Guarantee.

We will set out further detail in the upcoming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.

Information on number of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty that are not in receipt of Pension Credit in Liverpool Riverside constituency is not held.

In 2022/23, 11.4 million people in 8.4 million households in Great Britain received a Winter Fuel Payment, at a total cost of £2 billion.

The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26.

Only pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit, or the other qualifying benefits, Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit will get a Winter Fuel Payment from winter 2024/25. This approach retains support for pensioners on low incomes.

Building on last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial, we will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December backdating deadline, in order to ensure that if they are eligible they will also qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this legislation because the effect is on individuals and private households rather than businesses or voluntary sector organisations.

A Family Test assessment, an environmental principles assessment and an equality analysis were produced as part of the Governments decision-making process in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duties.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20^th August. The letter acknowledged the vital role local authorities play in supporting their communities. The Government recognises that many local authorities already do a huge amount of work to promote benefit take-up. We are asking that local authorities support our national Pension Credit campaign and help us reach those eligible pensioners who have not claimed Pension Credit, so they continue to receive an annual Winter Fuel Payment.

Building on last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial, the Department will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December backdating deadline, in order to ensure that if they are eligible they will also qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.

An equality analysis was produced as part of the Government’s decision-making process in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duties.

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are hourly rates. Pensioners do not receive their income at an hourly rate. As such, the requested information is not available.

The responsibility to make a claim to Pension Credit is with individuals, and we can only encourage them to apply. We encourage all pensioners who may be eligible for Pension Credit to use the Pension Credit Calculator to check eligibility and to use our online Pension Credit claims process, via telephone or paper claims.

The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The latest available take-up estimates Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) cover the financial year 2021/2022 and suggest an overall Pension Credit take-up rate of 63%. The next take-up estimates covering the financial year 2022/2023 are due to be published in October.

The responsibility to make a claim to Pension Credit is with individuals, and we can only encourage them to apply. We encourage all pensioners who may be eligible for Pension Credit to use the Pension Credit Calculator to check eligibility and to use our online Pension Credit claims process, via telephone or paper claims.

The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The latest available take-up estimates Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) cover the financial year 2021/2022 and suggest an overall Pension Credit take-up rate of 63%. The next take-up estimates covering the financial year 2022/2023 are due to be published in October.

The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26.

The responsibility to make a claim to Pension Credit is with individuals, and we can only encourage them to apply. We encourage all pensioners who may be eligible for Pension Credit to use the Pension Credit Calculator to check eligibility and to use our online Pension Credit claims process, via telephone or paper claims.

The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The latest available take-up estimates Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) cover the financial year 2021/2022 and suggest an overall Pension Credit take-up rate of 63%. The next take-up estimates covering the financial year 2022/2023 are due to be published in October.

Annual statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients and households by local authority and by Westminster parliamentary constituency are made publicly available via GOV.UK. The latest release contains data on individual and household level statistics for winter 2022 to 2023. For Winter 2022 to 2023, 22,044 people received a Winter Fuel Payment in South Ribble constituency.

Annual statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients and households by local authority and by Westminster parliamentary constituency are made publicly available via GOV.UK. The latest release contains data on individual and household level statistics for winter 2022 to 2023. For Winter 2022 to 2023, 24,157 people received a Winter Fuel Payment in North West Norfolk constituency.

Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Other means-tested benefits available to pensioners to enable them to receive a Winter Fuel Payment are: Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance (income-based), Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), and Universal Credit. Take-up statistics for Universal Credit are not available. Since the introduction of Universal Credit, it is no longer possible to make a new claim to other legacy means-tested benefits. We are therefore unable to estimate the number of pensioners who are eligible to claim other means-tested benefits.

Benefit combinations statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. Due to the suspension of State Pension statistics, the latest available data covers the period up to May 2023. At May 2023, there were 1,228,563 people in receipt of the State Pension and Pension Credit in England and Wales and 127,219 people in receipt of the State Pension and Pension Credit in Scotland. This represents around 12% of all people in receipt of the State Pension in England and Wales at May 2023 and around 13% of all people in receipt of the State Pension in Scotland at May 2023.

Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates oftake-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It is estimated that up to 880,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. However, from this data, we are unable to estimate how many of those who are eligible for Pension Credit are also in receipt of the State Pension.

Benefit expenditure and caseload tables are published annually and are available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The table below shows the estimate of the Pension Credit caseload in Great Britain for the next five years. These estimates will include those who are in receipt of the State Pension, as well as those who are not.

We do not hold data about Pension Credit eligibility for the next five years.

No targets have been set, the Government wants everyone eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to.

DWP launched the Pension Credit Week of Action on 2 September, joining forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We will also work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The Department has secured funding for increased staffing and our communications strategy which will support our programme of activity to drive up Pension Credit claims.

The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of the Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also 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.

We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The Department is in the process of modernising the Pension Credit delivery and consideration of accessibility, having previously undertaken an assessment of the application process and introduced online claims, in addition to telephone and paper claims. DWP Agents and third-party organisations being available to support customers with the application process, and ease of the application process, form core elements of our transformational design activities.

We are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer.

A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens.

We are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer.

A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens.