Progress in tackling pensioner poverty
Summary
This Report from the House of Commons Committee of Public
Accounts
‘Department
for Work and Pensions: progress in tackling pensioner poverty - encouraging
take-up of entitlements’ (HC 169 2006-07) examines efforts by the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to increase the take-up of benefits by
pensioners and looks at the reasons for unclaimed entitlements, the progress
that has been made in encouraging the take-up of benefits since 2003 and the
scope for further improvement.
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How
does it affect me?
If you work in the Pensions Service or are entitled
to a pension and associated benefits, this affects you.
Findings include
that despite considerable progress at the national and local level to tackle
pensioner poverty, there are still over one million pensioners who are not
claiming Pension Credits, almost a third of eligible pensioners. Low take-up
rates are highlighted amongst older pensioners, those from ethnic minorities
and those living in rural areas.
The Pension Service needs to improve
its co-ordination of partnership work with other health and housing service
providers and local groups and, given the complexity of the benefits system,
the DWP needs to develop a target relating to take-up rates for Attendance
Allowance and a system that would allow pensioners to claim linked benefits
through a single transaction.
Read more about pensions on the
Department for Work and Pensions website
.
Find out more about the work of the
House
of Commons Committee of Public Accounts.