Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on Pension Credit awareness campaigns in each since 1 January 2019.

A targeted, time-limited pilot campaign to promote Pension Credit in early 2020 included advertising in GP surgeries, Post Offices and social media at a cost of £65,000. Activity was curtailed by the early impact of the pandemic.

In 2021, the Department ran proactive press and social media activity at no cost, focused around the Pension Credit ‘day of action’ on 15 June.

The current Pension Credit take up campaign, aimed at pensioners and their family members, was launched in April 2022. The total budget committed to the paid campaign so far this year, including paid press advertising, is £1.2m, and the campaign is continuously monitored and optimised to deliver the best value for the money spent.

Our internal management information suggests that during the week of this year’s Pension Credit ‘day of action’ in June there was a 275% increase in claims compared to the same week in 2021.

This activity is in addition to the Pension Credit material included in the annual uprating mailing, which is sent to over 11m pensioners in Great Britain.