Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of eligible people claiming Pension Credit.

We continue to maximise opportunities to raise awareness of Pension Credit which provides vital financial support to households on a low income. Our Pension Credit Communications campaign, ongoing since April 2022, has included advertising on national TV, newspapers, broadcast radio, on social media and via internet search engines as well as on screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries. We have also used sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their family, and friends are likely to visit.

Our latest campaign messaging highlighted that Pension Credit can be worth up to £3,900 on average and is a passport to a range of other help and benefits – including Cost of Living payments.

There is a strong indication that the campaign has had a positive impact and has resulted in an unprecedented number of Pension Credit applications. The number of claims received in the financial 2022-23 was more than 80% higher than over the same period the year before.

The latest available figures covering the three months to May 2023 show an increase in the Pension Credit caseload. More households were receiving Pension Credit in May 2023 than in May 2022 at the beginning of the campaign. The recent quarterly increases in the caseload in August, November 2022 and now May 2023 – the first increases since 2009 - are very welcome and significant.