Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the maximum income eligibility criteria for Pension Credit in the context of the rate of inflation.

Following the conclusion of the Secretary of State’s annual up-rating review and subject to Parliamentary approval, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by 10.1% from April 2023. This is in line with the increase in prices in the year to September 2022. It will extend CPI protection to those who rely on the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit at a cost of £700 million above the statutory minimum requirement.

The same percentage increase will apply to the threshold for access to the Savings Credit for those who reached State Pension age before April 2016.