Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of households eligible to receive the second Cost of Living Payment 2022 that have not received it as of 15 March 2023.

The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of means-tested benefit Cost of Living Payments made. As of 14 November 2022, 7,300,000 means-tested benefits Cost of Living payments, second payment, had been made.

It is not possible to determine how many or what proportion of people are due a second Cost of Living Payment but have not received it, as entitlement may not have been established at the time the payments were made. We will periodically make payments to people who have later been found to be eligible and have not yet received a payment. The payments will continue to be made automatically in the same way the qualifying benefit or tax credit is paid.

In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the number of Cost of Living Payments made in specific constituencies is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.