§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used to select those pensioners to whom his Department plans to write about the introduction of pension credit before October. [121311]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Pension Service has begun to write to pensioner households to explain pension credit and to invite applications. The order in which households are contacted has been designed to produce a controlled build up of applications, evenly distributed throughout the UK. The households to be contacted before October represent a cross section of the pensioner population, including pensioners of all age groups and likely levels of eligibility for pension credit. By June 2004, all pensioner households will have been contacted. All those who apply before October 2004, if they are entitled, will receive payment as though they had claimed at the very start, or to the first day they could have qualified if this is later.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people eligible to receive pension credit; and what take-up targets his Department has been set. [122692]
§ Malcolm WicksI refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 30 June,Official Report, column 83–4W.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Departmental Information Technology system will be used to support pension credit; and if he will make a statement. [122694]
§ Malcolm WicksPension Credit will be paid through the Income Support Computer System. This is a tried and tested system that currently pays the minimum income guarantee to 1.8 million pensioners. It has been enhanced to enable it to handle Pension Credit.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the Pension Service will be writing to every pensioner household about the pension credit between April 2003 and October 2003, as referred to on page 2 of the June 2003 edition of the Appeals Service External Newsletter. [123033]
§ Malcolm WicksThe statement in the Appeals Service External Newsletter to which the hon. Member refers is incorrect. The Pension Service began to send mail packs about pension credit to pensioner households in April 2003 and will complete this process by June 2004. People currently in receipt of the minimum income guarantee were informed at the beginning of this year that they will be converted automatically to pension credit. Online versions of the newsletter are now correct. A correction will also appear in the next edition of the newsletter, to be published in September.
761W
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how he will identify the names and addresses of men aged between 60 and 64 when distributing pension credit personal direct mail packs. [123325]
§ Malcolm WicksThe names and addresses of men aged between 60 and 64 have been identified from data held by the Department, in the same way as those of other people who may be entitled to pension credit.