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Written question asked by Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 2 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 June 2026. It was answered by Torsten Bell (Labour) on Monday, 15 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pension Credit

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of Pension Credit among eligible households.

Answer

The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners receive the support to which they are entitled. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign across Great Britain, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their families. The campaign has featured advertising on television and radio, social media, digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices screens as well as in the national and local press. The latest campaign burst launched in May 2026.

We are also using data to target potentially eligible households. For example, since February 2025 all new Housing Benefit claimants who may be eligible have been invited to apply for Pension Credit. We also conducted a trial with Age UK and Independent Age targeting 2,000 households in England, testing whether it is possible to identify potentially eligible households using HMRC and DWP data.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
5934
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Pension credit Take-up
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk