Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2024 to question 4377 on Pension Credit, what progress her Department has made contacting pensioner households that are in receipt of Housing Benefit; and if she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners her Department expects to apply for the Winter Fuel Payment in the next 12 months.

We will be writing shortly to the approximately 120,000 pensioners we have identified who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

As a result of the Winter Fuel Payment changes announced on 29 July, we estimate the take-up rate of Pension Credit to increase by 5 percentage points. This is the equivalent of around an additional 100,000 successful claims to Pension Credit by 21 December 2024 (allowing for a maximum of 3 months backdating to ensure entitlement to a Winter Fuel Payment for 2024/25).

In the long term, the Government will bring together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, so that pensioner households receiving Housing Benefit also receive any Pension Credit that they are entitled to, which was pushed back by the previous Government.