Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the annual cost of assessing and administering (1) Pension Credit, and (2) winter fuel payments.

In terms of administrative costs, in 2023/24 the Department for Work and Pensions spent

(1) £30.7m on the administration of Pension Credit

(2) £3.3m on the administration of Winter Fuel payments.

Cost figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1m

The numbers quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff in the processing and management of cases.

Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models (ABM). This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards.

The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.

The data is frequently revised and changes to definitions / benefits / DWP structure effect comparisons over time. It should therefore be treated with caution and must be seen as an indication of cost, rather than the actual cost.