Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 22 November (HL3269), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what are the (1) average, and (2) longest, delays being experienced by pensioners applying for pension credit for applications made (a) in late April, and (b) subsequently.

DWP does not maintain data for the longest time taken to process Pension Credit applications. This information is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.

We are processing claims as quickly as possible and streamlining our processes, as well as increasing our staffing resources, which has resulted in the outstanding claims reducing considerably. We expect the clearance of claims to reduce as outstanding claims are cleared.

All successful claims and arrears are paid accordingly to ensure no one misses out.