Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Earl Peel (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 17 May 2006.

Benefits: Simplification

Question: My Lords, can the Minister give the House an estimate of the number of eligible claimants who are not claiming at the moment, probably because of the over-complication of the system?

Answer: My Lords, I have here a long list in relation to the various benefits. For income support, the take-up is between 90 and 97 per cent; for the minimum income guarantee, it is between 73 to 75 per cent; and for pension credit, it is between 68 to 76 per cent These are all by expenditure. I can let the noble Earl have a full list. Clearly the issue of take-up is very important. There are many reasons why benefits are not all taken up. It is partly because for individual claimants the amount from some benefits would be very small indeed. I accept that complexity is one of the reasons. The department has a lot of programmes in place—advertising, the issuing of leaflets and the use CABx and other avenues—to encourage people to make claims. I certainly accept that making the benefits system easier to use and understand is one of the ways in which we need to go forward.

Secondary information