Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) potential merits and (b) viability of auto enrolment for pension credit.

It is not currently possible to accurately identify people who may be entitled to Pension Credit nor to determine how much they may be entitled to on the basis of the data which DWP holds. Like all means-tested benefits, a person’s eligibility for Pension Credit depends on their financial and personal household circumstances - information which, in most cases, DWP does not hold. Entitlement to Pension Credit is only established once a claim is made and award decisions often require the judgment of a decision maker weighing up evidence which cannot be done automatically.

It is however possible to identify certain households as highly likely to be entitled to Pension Credit on the basis of Housing Benefit data which DWP holds. This means we can scale-up last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial by targeting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit by 21 December, which is the latest date for making a successful backdated claim and still qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.