§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps she is taking to ensure that pensioners entitled to income support are made aware of their entitlement. [40016]
§ Mr. DenhamWe have a Manifesto commitment to examine ways of delivering more automatic help to the poorest pensioners. We have already started to deliver—research is underway into why pensioners do not take up their Income Support entitlement, and last month we started pilot projects in nine areas to test out the best ways of identifying potential pensioner claimants and encouraging them to make a claim.
Apart from the pilots, there is a great deal of information available which explains what Income Support is, how to claim it and where people can go for help. Post offices, libraries and local authorities hold information leaflets.
124WIn addition, many non-Governmental organisations, such as Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Citizens Advice Bureaux, usually have a wide knowledge of all Social Security benefits and are also available to advise the public.