Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am 2:00 pm ar 12 Medi 2024.
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on the administration of Scottish social security benefits, what information it holds on the percentage of pensioners in Scotland who have not claimed pension credit for which they are eligible. (S6O-03707)
As pension credit is reserved to the United Kingdom Government, we are reliant on Department for Work and Pensions statistics for take-up rates. The latest that are available cover the financial year 2021-22 and show that the take-up rate of pension credit overall in Great Britain is 63 per cent. However, they do not show rates for countries or regions. Approximately 125,136 households receive pension credit in Scotland, which suggests that around 75,000 households in Scotland are eligible for pension credit but do not receive it.
Given that the estimates show that thousands of families who are entitled to receive pension credit have not claimed that benefit, and with Labour MPs at Westminster voting this week to remove the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners, what more can the Scottish Government do to increase benefit uptake and ensure that our eligible pensioners receive the support that they so desperately need this winter?
The decision on the winter fuel payment originated with the UK Government, so it is imperative that it should undertake a benefit take-up campaign. I have asked the Secretary of State to do so, urgently. Scottish Government officials are working with the DWP and stakeholders to promote pension credit take-up, despite the fact that that benefit is solely reserved.
Our welfare advice services, supported by Scottish Government investment, are also working closely with people who might be entitled to benefits—devolved or reserved—but who have not yet applied. Those efforts include increasing awareness and take-up assistance to support people who are struggling financially. That is why we have committed to investing more than £20 million for the provision of free income maximisation support and welfare and debt advice services in 2024-25.