Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of people eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit in (a) Ilford North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Redbridge.

Estimates for Pension Credit take-up are only available at the Great Britain level. The latest statistics (2019/20) are in the publication:

Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK

Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Ilford North some 2,300 pensioners and 6,200 in the London Borough of Redbridge already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up. The campaign included:

• promotion of Pension Credit on social media, via internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit;
• information screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries across Great Britain;
• advertising in regional and national newspapers and on national and local broadcast radio;
• advertising on the sides of buses, interior bus panels and digital street displays;
• leaflets and posters in Jobcentres, as well as digital versions which could be used by stakeholders and partners across local communities;
• engagement with Local Authorities nationwide through the Government Communication Service local network and promotional materials to enable them to support the campaign;
• an updated digital toolkit with information and resources that any stakeholder can use to help promote Pension Credit; and
• a second Pension Credit awareness media ‘day of action’ in June working in close collaboration with broadcasters, newspapers and other partners such as Age UK, Independent Age and the private sector to reach out to pensioners to promote Pension Credit through their channels.

This month we undertook a further burst of communications activity, including press and radio advertising and social media to highlight to pensioners that if they applied for Pension Credit by 18 December, it would not be too late to qualify for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – subject to Pension Credit backdating rules.

On 7 December, around 40 MPs attended a Pension Credit event at Portcullis House which I hosted. I was pleased to hear about the work that a number of MPs are already doing to help their constituents make a claim and also that others pledged to help promote Pension Credit.

In the new year, DWP will write to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As last year, a leaflet accompanying the notification includes information promoting Pension Credit. This has been updated to include a more prominent ‘call to action’ using the Pension Credit campaign messaging to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.

Further spend of £1.8m has been approved for marketing activity until the end of this financial year.