Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportional uptake of Pension Credit in Portsmouth South constituency; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that Pension Credit is paid to all people entitled to it.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2019 to 2020 and can be found at Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Portsmouth South some 2,400 pensioners already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up.

We undertook a further burst of communications activity in December which included press, radio and social media. This highlighted that successful Pension Credit applications made by 18 December would mean qualification for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – thanks to Pension Credit backdating rules. To promote this activity, I held an event at Portcullis House on 7 December. Around 40 MPs attended to show their support and help promote the message in their constituencies.

Internal management information shows that during the week commencing 12 December, DWP received over 7,200 claims. This is 177% higher compared to the same week the year before. Since the beginning of the Pension Credit awareness campaign in April 2022, weekly Pension Credit claims volumes increased by an average of 73% compared to the year average before the campaign began (April 2021 to March 2022).

We are planning to spend £1.8m on further communications activities up to the end of the financial year, including TV advertising, radio and print advertising – which will emphasise the help that receipt of Pension Credit can bring, such as qualifying for this year’s Cost of Living payments.

We are also writing to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As last year, a leaflet accompanying the notification includes information promoting Pension Credit. This has been updated to include a more prominent ‘call to action’ using the Pension Credit campaign messaging to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.