Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reduce (a) delays and (b) complexities in obtaining the necessary information to purchase additional years of National Insurance contributions to maximise their state pension (a) faced by women and (b) generally.

To support customers, HMRC and DWP enhanced the online Check your State Pension forecast service in April 2024. New functionality enables the majority of working age customers to self-serve by viewing their State Pension forecast, see payable gaps and make payments online.

The Future Pensions Centre and the National Insurance helpline remain in place for customers who are unable to use the online service, as well as customers who prefer that route or who need additional assistance.

Both departments are putting in place measures to manage the expected demand in the run-up to the 5 April 2025 deadline, including managing the deployment of resources, the use of callbacks, digitising and improving forms for overseas individuals, interactive voice response messaging and directing customers to the digital service.