Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit in Aylesbury constituency; and what steps she is taking to encourage the take-up of Pension Credit in that constituency.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics, which includes estimates of the number of households eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit, cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Last week we held a Pension Credit Awareness Week of Action – joining forces with a range of partners such as Age UK, Citizens Advice, local authorities and organisations such as British Gas to promote Pension Credit and encourage take-up. The “Week of Action” had widespread national and regional media coverage.

From 16 September we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

We are working with external partners, local authorities, and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.