Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications were (a) made and (b) awarded by the smallest geographical area for which data is available since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit claims have been awarded to (a) men and (b) women since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been made in each region since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 28 November we published national Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes from 29 July 2024 to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
These statistics show that 150,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 29 July 2024 and 17 November 2024.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
We do not currently hold data at a regional level.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 pensioners eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit in each region.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No estimate has been made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit by region.
According to the latest available data, in financial year ending 2023, an estimated 2,134,000 households were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain. This has been calculated by adding the estimated number of households who are entitled to but not receiving Pension Credit to the number of eligible households that received Pension Credit. It is not possible to break this figure down by region.
In published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, it is estimated that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK
The published Pension Credit caseload for Great Britain, for financial year 2022 to 2023 shows that an estimated 1,374,000 households received Pension Credit. This is obtained from the latest published Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 and is available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 pensioners eligible for Pension Credit in each region.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No estimate has been made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit by region.
According to the latest available data, in financial year ending 2023, an estimated 2,134,000 households were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain. This has been calculated by adding the estimated number of households who are entitled to but not receiving Pension Credit to the number of eligible households that received Pension Credit. It is not possible to break this figure down by region.
In published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, it is estimated that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK
The published Pension Credit caseload for Great Britain, for financial year 2022 to 2023 shows that an estimated 1,374,000 households received Pension Credit. This is obtained from the latest published Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 and is available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employee settlement agreements there were in her Department in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements is.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since April 2020 the DWP has agreed 127 employee settlements totalling £2,322,639.
Period | Number of settlements |
April 2020 – March 2021 | 26 |
April 2021 – March 2022 | 30 |
April 2022 – March 2023 | 29 |
March 2023 – April 2024 | 30 |
April 2024 - date | 20 |
All settlements are made following a robust value for money assessment and on the basis of legal advice.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the additional 500 staff deployed to process Pension Credit applications were new employees.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Since the announcement to means test Winter Fuel payments, to date we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by approximately 500 staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. This is in line with the overall resourcing plan for Pension Credit claims and Winter Fuel payments.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been made since 29 July 2024 by constituency.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not currently hold this information at Constituency level.
Data on how many Pension Credit applications made between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024 was recently published on gov.uk, Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
On 28 October 2024, The Department announced updated Pension Credit applications and award statistics would be published on 28 November 2024. This publication provides application volumes up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
This shows we have received around 150,000 applications since the announcement on 29 July to 17 November 2024.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on steps councils are taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not hold any data on the steps that councils are taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
In England, the Household Support Fund (HSF) is a scheme funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and delivered by all Upper Tier Local Authorities to support those most in need with the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water. The HSF is intended to cover a wide range of low-income households in need, including households with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people, larger households, single-person households, and those struggling with one-off financial shocks or unforeseen events. Since October 2022, there has been no ring-fencing of funding for certain groups.
Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25 and no estimate has been made of the amount local authorities will spend on supporting pensioners this winter.