Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to share data between her Department and HMRC to identify households eligible for Pension Credit.

HMRC and DWP already have well established data-sharing processes and procedures, which are governed by the rules on how data can be accessed, shared and used whilst safeguarding individuals’ data and privacy.

DWP officials are currently working with HMRC to explore how to use data more effectively to help identify pensioner households most likely to be eligible for Pension Credit and to target them directly.