Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the increase in the uptake of pension credit since the announcement that winter fuel payments will be means-tested; and what estimate they have made of the likely cost of this to the Exchequer next winter.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest take up figures were published in October 2024. They showed that in financial year 2022/23, 65% of those entitled to Pension Credit claimed the benefit.
Data on Pension Credit claims and awards was published in November. It showed that there has been a 145% increase in Pension Credit claims received by DWP in the 16 weeks following the Chancellor’s Winter Fuel Payment announcement on the 29 July, compared to the number received in the 16 weeks prior to the announcement.
Benefit expenditure and caseload forecasts are regularly made publicly available by the Department. The latest published forecasts estimate that Winter Fuel Payments will cost £330m in nominal terms, for financial year 2025/26.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to encourage the take up of Pension Credit, and (2) to simplify the application process.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is running a national uptake campaign to encourage the estimated up to 880,000 citizens who may be entitled to Pension Credit apply for it. The Department is in the process of modernising the Pension Credit delivery and has 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 are available to support customers with the application process.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely resilience of food banks during the upcoming winter.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
There is no consistent and accurate measure of foodbank usage at a constituency or national level, including any assessment on foodbank resilience.
The Department for Work and Pensions introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to measure and track foodbank usage in April 2021. The first results of these questions are due to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.
Our commitment to include questions in the Family Resources Survey show how seriously we take this issue; the data is vital to ensure we understand the full picture