Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total amount paid per week is to people who have started claiming Pension Credit since the changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment were announced.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest available data shows that, for all Pension Credit recipients, at August 2024, the average weekly amount of Pension Credit paid was £83.01. (Source: Stat-Xplore).
The next iteration of the DWP Benefit Statistics publication has a provisional release date of 13 May 2025 which will include data up to November 2024 and will be published on Stat-Xplore. DWP benefits statistics: May 2025 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 23268 on State Retirement Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of people who are (a) eligible for the Category D pension payment and (b) live in the UK who have not yet applied for the pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP is responsible for the State Pension administered in Great Britain while the Department for Communities is responsible for the State Pension administered in Northern Ireland.
As of the quarter ending August 2024, there were a total of 89,360 people in receipt of the Category D pension payment. This represents 87,938 people in Great Britain and 1,418 overseas.
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore Please note that numbers do not sum due to rounding.
No estimate is available for those living in the UK who have not yet applied for the Category D pension. Those who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain on their 80th birthday and who meet the required residency conditions will receive the increase automatically without having to make a claim if their basic State Pension is less than £101.55 a week (£105.70 from April 2025). Those who are getting no State Pension at age 80 or who get Graduated Retirement Benefit only, will need to make a claim.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 22254 on Pension Credit, how many new applications for Pension Credit were (a) made and (b) approved between 10 September 2024 and 10 February 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 27th February we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025. This information can be found at Pension Credit Applications - February 2025
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of occupational and state pension payments on eligibility for Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2024 to question UIN 6904, this outlines the interaction between Carer’s Allowance and State Pension. Personal pensions paid to the carer are not treated as earnings and therefore do not affect their Carer’s Allowance award. Some contributions to personal pensions can be deducted from earnings so as to calculate the net earnings figure for Carer’s Allowance purposes.
Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of people affected by proposed changes to (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Work Capability Assessments and (b) the Disability Living Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We believe there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today. This government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, and with any reform, including the Health and Disability Green Paper we intend to publish in the Spring, we will consult with disabled people and representative organisations.
Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits, and look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.
About the PIP service specifically: the Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services, to improve people’s experience of applying for PIP. The Programme will transform the entire PIP service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments
The Programme communicates and engages frequently with disabled people and external stakeholders – including national charities and other organisations that support people with disabilities – about proposed changes. Their opinions and suggestions are taken on board as we test new iterations of the transformed service.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 23268 on State Retirement Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to advise people that they may be eligible for the additional pension payments.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Those who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain on their 80th birthday and who meet the required residency conditions will receive the increase automatically without having to make a claim if their basic State Pension is less than £101.55 a week (£105.70 from April 2025). Those who are getting no State Pension at age 80 or who get Graduated Retirement Benefit only, will need to make a claim.
The Category D over 80 pension is not part of the new State Pension, but it continues to be available for people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016.
Information about the over 80 pension is available on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged 80 and over are eligible for the additional £260 per year pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the quarter ending May 2024, there were 87,299 people in total claiming a Category D pension, those in the UK and overseas. This is a non-contributory State Pension that is paid to those aged over 80 who have no State Pension or who receive an amount that is less than the Category D rate of £101.55 a week (£105.70 after April 2025). There are also residency conditions that must be met in order to be eligible.
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) made applications for Pension Credit and (b) were successful between 29 July 2024 and 21 December 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, from 1 April 2024 up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK.
Please note, the next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications for Pension Credit were (a) made and (b) approved between 10 September 2024 and 21 December 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK.
Please note, the next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 17079 on Pension Credit: Social Security Benefits, what the average weekly cash total equivalent is of the additional qualifying benefits to which Pension Credit claimants are entitled.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No estimate has been made as the department is unable to quantify the value of all passported benefits.