Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost increase arising from the greater uptake of Pension Credit since July 2024.

The department estimates that the legislation to means-test Winter Fuel Payments would generate a net saving of £1.3 billion in England and Wales for 2024/25. This reflects an expected increase in Pension Credit take-up, estimated at five percentage points. This assumption reduced the overall saving by £0.3 billion in 2024-25 in England and Wales, but there is significant uncertainty around this element of the costing. For further details, please see Economic and fiscal outlook – CP 1169.