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<p>The BBC made its announcement about future eligibility of free TV licences on Monday
10 June. It is too early for an assessment of the potential impact on additional Pension
Credit claims to be made. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits,
including pension credit at general Great Britain level can be found in the ‘Income-related
benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p><p>The
Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are
entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible
to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change
in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information
about benefits to potential customers; including information on <a href="https://gov.uk/"
target="_blank">https://gov.uk/</a> , in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension
Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice
about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing
Benefit.</p><p>Potential customers can use the Pension Credit <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to check if they
are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing
to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p>One of the best ways
to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community
and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies
and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up.
It can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a></p><p>The
toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides
to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help
older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support
someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The
toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p>Most
recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit
and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is
available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p><p><strong>
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