Cost of Living: Pensioners

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

If the noble Baroness does not mind, I do not agree that the Chancellor has ignored things. He has had to deal with a pretty difficult set of circumstances. Due to legacy benefits, we can do an uprating only once a year, the reasons for which all noble Lords know. Since 1987, we have consistently used the September inflation figure and that will continue.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, one-third of the household support fund is earmarked for pensioners. The second tranche of £500 million, which is not a great deal, came into play on 1 April this year. Could the Minister tell us how much of that fund has already been exhausted, how quickly the first tranche was exhausted and what work has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of the household support fund?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

I confirm that the Department for Work and Pensions requires local authorities to provide management information returns detailing their spend and the volume of awards made for food, energy and water bills. MI returns for the scheme, running from 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, will also detail grant spend and the volume of awards made to families with and without children. This will be published in the coming months.