(2) how many pensioners who were eligible for (a) pension credit and (b) winter fuel allowance did not claim it in each of the last five years;
(3) how many pensioners in Islwyn constituency received pension credit in each of the last five years;
(4) how many pensioners in Islwyn constituency claimed the winter fuel allowance in each of the last five years.
Latest estimates of the amount of pension credit left unclaimed and the number of pensioners who were eligible but not claiming pension credit can be found in the DWP publication series entitled: “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up”. Copies of the annual reports are held in the Library.
The vast majority of winter fuel payments are made automatically without the need to claim as we hold sufficient information on our benefit systems. It is not possible to say how many people may be eligible for a winter fuel payment and are not receiving it. This is because not everyone aged 60 or over will be eligible for a payment. In order to assess whether a person is eligible we need to establish their circumstances and this can only be done once they have contacted the Department. A person may be ineligible for various reasons such as serving a custodial sentence, in hospital receiving free in-patient treatment for more than 52 weeks, or subject to immigration control.
All winter fuel payment information for past years is in the Library and is updated yearly. A letter was issued to all MPs in January 2005 to inform them that the information would be published and updated each year.
Pension credit was introduced in October 2003, so the following table shows the number of household recipients of pension credit in Islwyn constituency for 2003 to 2006.
Household recipients November 2003 2,800 August 2004 3,580 August 2005 3,760 August 2006 3,830 Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Pension credit was introduced on 6 October 2003 and replaced minimum income guarantee (income support for people aged 60 or over). 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. Data
The following table shows the number of winter fuel payments made in the Islwyn constituency over each of the last five years. Figures for winter 2006-07 are not yet available but we expect the number to be similar to that for winter 2005-06.
Payments made 2001-02 13,740 2002-03 14,030 2003-04 13,850 2004-05 13,660 2005-06 13,750 Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. Source: Information directorate 100 per cent. data.