Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1299290

registered interest
date	03/03/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the level of uptake of pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	162649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 162650 question first answered 09/03/2021 13:40:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 88227 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1299291

registered interest
date	03/03/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the need for additional measures to increase pension credit uptake.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	162650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 162649 question first answered 09/03/2021 13:40:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 88228 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1236558

registered interest
date	22/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 24 March 2020 to Question 30051 on Pension Credit stating that her Department will carry out a full evaluation of the 12-week Pension Credit awareness campaign that started on 12 February 2020, if she will outline (a) the results of that evaluation including how successful it was in meeting its objectives and (b) her Department’s plans for future awareness raising of Pension Credit following that evaluation.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Hallam
tabling member printed	Olivia Blake
uin	93723
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2020 answer text <p>The purpose of the campaign was to support Pension Credit take-up and test impact.</p><p> </p><p>There was a 20% increase in telephone calls to the Pension Credit claim line (during the course of the campaign the weekly average was 2,493 phone calls compared to a weekly average in 2019 of 2,079 phone calls).</p><p> </p><p>There was also significant engagement with social media and a spike of activity on viewing the Pension Credit website pages with more than 5,000 sessions on the launch day, 10 February (compared to 1,000 on 3 February).</p><p> </p><p>However, it should be stressed that other factors may affect these numbers, including the BBC TV licensing decision and the effect of the Pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the Pandemic, all pensions campaigns are currently on hold.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 28/09/2020 12:06:30 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 50040 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4864 label Biography information for Olivia Blake

1135215

registered interest
date	27/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding the Government allocated to charities that work with older people to support them in promoting the take-up of pension credit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	270400
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including charities to ensure that accurate information about benefits including Pension Credit is available in the places where people are most likely to go to seek information.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP knows that one of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder organisations working in the community and that is why we have developed and resourced 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:</p><p><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> </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><strong> </strong></p><p>Stakeholders and potential customers alike can use the Pension Credit calculator at <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.</p><p> </p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure they are able to communicate the most up-to-date information to potential claimants.</p><p> </p><p>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> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/07/2019 14:07:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 126660 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1131301

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of additional claims that will be made for pension credit following the limiting of free TV licences to people aged over 75 claiming that benefit.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
uin	263077
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <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> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/06/2019 13:34:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 123349 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

1055244

registered interest
date	05/02/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2019 to Question 212389, what estimate she has made of the number of couples affected in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22 of the changes to be introduced in May 2019 to the eligibility for pension credit of couples where one partner has reached state pension age and the other has not.
tabling member constituency	Wirral West
tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
uin	217093
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2019 answer text <p>The Welfare Reform Act 2012 amended entitlement conditions for Pension Credit so as to require both members of a couple to have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit before the couple can be entitled to it.</p><p> </p><p>The change will not affect mixed age couples who are entitled to Pension Credit and/or pension age Housing Benefit immediately before the implementation date unless their entitlement to both those benefits subsequently ends.</p><p> </p><p>An estimate of the number of mixed age couples who may be affected by the forthcoming changes to be introduced on 15 May 2019 is set out below:</p><p><strong>Estimated mixed age couples affected by policy change</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019/20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020/21</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021/22</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>15,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>40,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/02/2019 14:04:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 100747 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood