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Social Security

When I visited one of the headquarters of the Pension, Disability and Carers Service—perhaps the hon. Gentleman should pay it a visit, if he has not already done so—I was certainly very impressed with the way pensioners were dealt with carefully: people tried to take their details and talk them through their eligibility. I constantly keep in touch with the directors of the service and so on, not only to ensure that the service provision targets are being met, but to examine all the time what else can be done to improve the system. It is vital that we examine different methods—for example, working with organisations such as Age Concern or Help the Aged, and, in particular, with local centres that older people—perhaps those on lower incomes—might frequent, so that we get the services and the information to these people, with a particular emphasis on the fact that these are entitlements. We must encourage them to take up their entitlements.