Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

State Pension and Pension Credit: Kettering

Monday 8 November 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Philip Hollobone asked about the number of people receiving the state pension and claiming pension credit in the Kettering constituency.
  • The response stated that 17,942 people receive the state pension and 1,888 claim pension credit in Kettering.
  • The Minister mentioned ongoing efforts to encourage more people to claim pension credit, including meetings with the BBC and energy companies.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Philip Hollobone Con
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP wanted to know the number of people receiving state pension and claiming pension credit in his constituency, Kettering.

Question

How many people receive the state pension and how many claim pension credit in the Kettering constituency?

Answer from Guy Opperman

The most recent statistics show that 17,942 people receive the state pension and 1,888 receive pension credit in the Kettering constituency.

Answered
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Q2 Philip Hollobone Con
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP noted that despite pension credit being a significant benefit for low-income retired people, up to 1 million pensioners are not claiming £1.8 billion in pension credit, highlighting the need for increased awareness.

Question

Pension credit is a tax-free, means-tested benefit aimed at retired people on low incomes and can be worth up to £3,000 a year with extra help. Given that many pensioners struggle with household bills, what measures will the Minister take to encourage more people in Kettering and across the country to claim their entitlement?

Answer from Guy Opperman

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. We continue to make the case with the BBC, which I have met on two occasions, with the pension credit taskforce specifically set up to address this matter, and with the Local Government Association and energy companies. We have put great efforts into increasing the stats on valuation and take-up, but clearly more needs to be done.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific actions or commitments for increasing pension credit take-up in Kettering were not provided.

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