News story

20th November 2002

Government Planning for Failure on Pensioner Poverty

Commenting on today’s National Audit Office report on tackling pensioner poverty – which states that more could be done to ensure low income pensioners get the benefits to which they are entitled – Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“The Government is showing remarkable complacency on benefit take-up. Its own projections assume that 1 million pensioner households entitled to their flagship new Pension Credit will fail to claim it.

“This is planning for failure. Mass means-testing on the scale envisaged by the Government is fatally flawed. Non-take-up is a major obstacle in the Government’s strategy and they show no signs of appreciating the problem. The only way to ensure take-up is by delivering support through the basic state pension, which is claimed by all pensioners.”

ENDS


Notes to editors:

1. The National Audit Office report, “Tackling pensioner poverty: Encouraging take-up of entitlements” is published on 20 November 2002.

2. 4.1 million households will be entitled to Pension Credit (Written Answer 18 Apr 2002, Official Report Column: 1118W)

3. The DWP estimates that less than 3 million pensioner households will claim the Pension Credit in 2005-06,even after it has been running for two years (DWP Benefit Expenditure Tables, published Autumn 2002, Table 7).