Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the (a) number of migrants who have arrived in the UK in the last five years in receipt of benefits in Mid Leicestershire constituency and (b) the total value of those benefits in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department is exploring the feasibility of developing suitable official statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit customers.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications were made in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below shows the volumes of Pension Credit applications received in each of the last 5 financial years.
Pension Credit Claims | Received |
April 2024 to 17 November 2024 | 215,200 |
April 2023 to March 2024 | 251,000 |
April 2022 to March 2023 | 267,000 |
April 2021 to March 2022 | 149,000 |
April 2020 to March 2021 | 142,000 |
The figures for 2024/25 are only covering part of the year and will be higher when all months are included.
The latest statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, from 1 April 2024 up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK. The next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
Please note, the data shown for previous years April 2020 to March 2024 is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average actual clearance times were for Pension Credit claims made from 25 November 2024 until the most recent date available.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pension Credit application Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) are measured weekly. The AACT clearances are based on the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.
The table below the most recent national AACT data.
Week Date | 25/11/24 | 02/12/24 | 09/12/24 | 16/12/24 | 23/12/24 | 30/12/24 | 06/01/25 | 13/01/25 | 20/1/25 |
PC Claims AACT (Working Days) | 82 | 83 | 87 | 66 | 47 | 42 | 44 | 45 | 45 |
Please note
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16393 on Department for Work and Pensions: Staff, what the additional cost is of the private providers.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information you request is not available. DWP operates a 'forecast and volumes' based pricing model, where supplier costs specific to the increase in Pension Credit New Claims demand, following the Chancellor's announcement in July 2024 are not itemised. However, we can confirm these costs were part of a contract extension worth £1.7m.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for Pension Credit appeals to be reviewed.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications were (a) made and (b) awarded by the smallest geographical area for which data is available since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not hold data at regional or constituency level for applications made. Statistics published on 28 November 2024 show applications for Pension Credit received and also claims awarded since the 29 July 2024 announcement up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK.
Please note, the next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of Pension Credit claims awarded since 29 July 2024. The latest available data held on Stat-Xplore - Home shows Pension Credit caseload data by Parliamentary constituency at May 2024. Parliamentary constituency is the smallest geographical area available within the data.
The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18th February, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024. Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit claims have been awarded to (a) men and (b) women since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest available data on Stat-Xplore - Home - Home shows that, in May 2024, 1,355,256 Pension Credit claims were in place, of which 457,065 had been awarded to men and 898,193 had been awarded to women.
The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18th February, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024. Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been made in each region since 29 July 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 28 November we published national Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes from 29 July 2024 to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
These statistics show that 150,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 29 July 2024 and 17 November 2024.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
We do not currently hold data at a regional level.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit in each region.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
No estimate has been made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit by region.
According to the latest available data, in financial year ending 2023, an estimated 2,134,000 households were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain. This has been calculated by adding the estimated number of households who are entitled to but not receiving Pension Credit to the number of eligible households that received Pension Credit. It is not possible to break this figure down by region.
In published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, it is estimated that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK
The published Pension Credit caseload for Great Britain, for financial year 2022 to 2023 shows that an estimated 1,374,000 households received Pension Credit. This is obtained from the latest published Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 and is available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit in each region.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
No estimate has been made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit by region.
According to the latest available data, in financial year ending 2023, an estimated 2,134,000 households were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain. This has been calculated by adding the estimated number of households who are entitled to but not receiving Pension Credit to the number of eligible households that received Pension Credit. It is not possible to break this figure down by region.
In published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, it is estimated that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK
The published Pension Credit caseload for Great Britain, for financial year 2022 to 2023 shows that an estimated 1,374,000 households received Pension Credit. This is obtained from the latest published Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 and is available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).