Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report by Independent Age The cost of pensioner poverty and non-take up of Pension Credit, published on 14 September, whether they have developed a written strategy to increase the take-up of pension credit; and if not, whether they plan to prepare and publish such a strategy within this parliamentary session.

Since its introduction in 2003, successive governments have attempted to promote Pension Credit but with limited results. For a number of years now, the take-up rate for Pension Credit has remained at around 60 per cent. Previous research by the Department suggested that the main reason for people not claiming is people believing they are not eligible, for example because they think they have too much money or own their own home.

While over 1.5 million pensioners currently receive Pension Credit, the Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled. That is why in February this year we launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and help dispel some of the misconceptions that people might have about Pension Credit eligibility. We wanted to make it clear that having savings, a pension or owning a home are not automatic barriers to receiving Pension Credit. We also wanted to highlight that even a small award of Pension Credit can provide access to a range of other benefits such as help with rent, council tax reduction schemes, heating costs and for those aged 75 or over a free television license.

We are also continuing to work with our stakeholders to help spread the key messages from the campaign because we know that often the best ways to reach eligible pensioners is through trusted stakeholders working in the community. Our online Pension Credit toolkit has been updated with the recent awareness campaign materials to supplement the resources it already contains for those working with pensioners, such as guides to Pension Credit and information designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit.

In May this year we launched an online claim service for Pension Credit to supplement the existing telephone and postal claim services. The new online service enables pensioners to apply for Pension Credit at a time that suits them. Around 50 per cent of new claims to Pension Credit are currently being made using the service and more than 34,000 online claims have been made since it was launched.