Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve the take-up of Pension Credit in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Kingston upon Hull North some 2,400 pensioners 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 a whole range of activities including:

• advertising in regional and national newspapers, and on national and local broadcast radio;
• 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 GB;
• advertising on the sides of buses, interior bus panels and digital street displays; and
• leaflets and posters in Jobcentres, as well as digital versions which could be used by stakeholders and partners across local communities; 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

Last 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 coming weeks, DWP will write to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As with 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.