Written question asked by Ray Powell (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 May 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 May 1998. It was answered by John Denham (Labour) on Monday, 18 May 1998 on behalf of the Department of Social Security.

Dept of Social Security

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what action her Department is taking to increase the take up of unclaimed social security benefits. - Inc figures.

Answer: Sir Raymond Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action her Department is taking to increase the take up of unclaimed social security benefits. [41592] Mr. Denham: We would encourage everyone who thinks they may be entitled to benefit to make a claim, wherever they live in Britain. However, we know there are particular barriers which stop pensioners taking up their Income Support and that is why we are focusing on this group. We are committed to examining to the ways of delivering more automatic help to the poorest pensioners, and have already started to honour this commitment. As a first step, we have started research to establish the reasons why pensioners do not claim their Income Support entitlement, and the most effective ways of getting help to them. Since April, we have been running nine local pilot projects costing £15 million to test the best way of getting help to the estimated 1 million pensioners who are currently entitled to Income Support but do not claim it.

Secondary information