Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to take steps to (a) expedite and (b) simplify the pension claiming process for people diagnosed with terminal illnesses.

For those at the end of their life, the Government’s priority is providing financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way that the Department does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and now they are being changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.

There are no plans to change how the State Pension claiming process operates.