Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many additional applications for pension credit have been accepted in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland, (d) North West of England and (e) Runcorn and Helsby constituency in the last four months.

The department published information on 27^th September on the number of applications between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024. This showed a 152% increase in applications in the 8 weeks following the 29 July 2024 Winter Fuel Payment announcement by the chancellor.

The Department has announced its plan to publish updated information on Pension Credit Applications and Awards on 28 November 2024. We are currently unable to provide information at the geographic levels requested and the 28 November 2024 statistical release is currently planned to include data at the national level.