PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pensioners: Poverty (10 September 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set up a Pensioner Task Force to (a) assess intersecting issues of income, housing, health and fuel costs and (b) make recommendations to tackle pensioner poverty.

Asked by:
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)

We are determined to support pensioners and give them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. The Government has committed to reviewing the pensions landscape. The first phase, focusing on investment outcomes, began in July and we will follow that later this year with the next phase that will consider further steps to improve pension outcomes, including assessing retirement adequacy.

Immediate support for pensioners includes our commitment to the Triple Lock, with over 12 million pensioners set to benefit through the course of this parliament, with the full yearly rate of the new State Pension forecast to increase by around £1,700.

Pension Credit continues to provide a safety net for the poorest pensioners and those with additional needs, such as those with a severe disability, caring responsibility, responsibility for a child or certain housing costs. We want everybody who could be eligible to claim it, which is why we have launched a nationwide Pension Credit take-up campaign.

The Household Support Fund (HSF) is also being extended for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025, to support those most in need, including vulnerable pensioners. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

Answered by:
Emma Reynolds (Labour)
18 September 2024