Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take with local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility for Pension Credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government wants everyone eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to.
The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20th 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.
We will continue to work with external partners, local authorities and the devolved governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will be affected by the proposed changes to pensioners' eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment in Sutton and Cheam constituency.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 Payment statistics.
It is estimated that around 14,000 pensioners in Sutton and Cheam constituency will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.
This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in Sutton and Cheam consistency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in Sutton and Cheam constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.
Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension 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, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher (i.e., taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to make additional support for food banks available.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst food banks are independent, charitable organisations and government has no role in their operation, we are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. On 30th July, the Secretary of State held the first food poverty roundtable with food poverty experts to understand the priorities in this area.
We promised concrete actions in our manifesto to support children and families. Our initial steps to tackle poverty include free breakfast clubs in every primary school so children don’t go hungry, protecting renters from arbitrary eviction, slashing fuel poverty and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts. Good work is the foundation of our approach, and our New Deal for Working People, including ensuring that the minimum wage is a genuine living wage along with reformed employment support, will mean that many more people will benefit from the dignity and purpose of employment.
In addition, the Government is extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An estimated total package of approximately £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive £421 million to support those in need locally.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.