Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Olney Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I am glad to hear that the hon. Lady was able to help her constituent. We are looking at the form, as I mentioned in a previous answer, and we will update the House soon on those developments.

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

22. What progress her Department has made on meeting pension credit application targets.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Emma Reynolds)]

The Department does not have a pension credit application target. Published application numbers show that we received around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks from the end of July to mid-September.

[Sarah Olney]

In the weeks following the Chancellor’s announcements on the winter fuel allowance, the number of pension credit applications doubled, then nearly tripled. Now the DWP is delaying releasing any more data on this subject. I am concerned that the Government know that they will not be able to process the applications on time, and that the information is not being put into the public domain. Will the Minister tell me exactly how many pension credit applications have been submitted since 16 September, and whether the backlog will be cleared before older people start having to make a choice between heating and eating?

[Emma Reynolds]

I gently say to the hon. Lady that we are not delaying the publication of statistics. A new set of statistics will be published soon. As I said in previous answers, we have redeployed 500 additional staff to helping to process pension credit applications. We urge all those who have loved ones who are pensioners, or who are pensioners themselves, to apply if they think that they are eligible.