§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much benefit from the new child tax credit and pension credit systems is unclaimed; and what steps they will take to encourage it to be claimed. [HL5155]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)Of the 6 million families expected to benefit from the new tax credits in the full year, it is estimated that 5.9 million families were benefiting from the child or working tax credits, or were receiving the equivalent level of child support through income support or jobseeker's allowance, at 31 October.
A high-profile publicity campaign has been running since September 2002 to alert people to their entitlement to child tax credit and working tax credit and to encourage them to claim.
The campaign has so far included national television advertising, local radio advertising across the UK. advertisements in the national press as well as online publicity and the use of direct mail.
Leaflets and posters in English and nine community languages have been produced and are available free to community organisations, post offices, doctors' surgeries and libraries. Leaflets are available in large print, and can be obtained on request in braille or audio.
An information pack, including sample material and ordering details has been sent out to intermediaries. A similar pack has also been sent to Members of both Houses of Parliament and the devolved administrations. Further publicity will include television, press, radio and online advertising as well as direct mail.
Pension credit was introduced in October 2003. I understand from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that the latest information for its predecessor, minimum income guarantee, is for 165WA 2000–01. The amount unclaimed for that year in Great Britain is estimated to lie between £470 million and £820 million, as published by DWP in Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up in 2000–01.
The Government have a target for at least 3 million pensioner households to be in receipt of pension credit by 2006. We want all those eligible for pension credit to take up their entitlement.
A direct mail pack to pensioner households is at the heart of the DWP's marketing campaign for pension credit. The Pension Service began writing to pensioner households in April, to explain pension credit and to invite advance applications. In addition, around 1.8 million people in receipt of the minimum income guarantee were told at the beginning of the year that they would be transferred automatically to pension credit ready for payments to be made from October. By June 2004, all pensioner households will have been contacted.
These direct mail arrangements are being supported by a national TV and press advertising campaign, which began on 3 September. The controlled and measured marketing campaign is designed to produce a steady build-up of pension credit applications.
The pension credit application line, which became operational on 7 April, enables trained staff to help pensioners through the application form and complete it for them over the telephone. Calls are free (except for some mobile phones) and friends and family can use the application line and apply on pensioners' behalf if they are unable to make the call themselves.
The Pension Service is able to offer alternative ways of applying to suit individual circumstances, including a textphone number and a paper application form. An application form can be downloaded from the pension credit website. Pensioners can also be put in touch with the Pension Service's local service and can be seen face-to-face either in a local surgery or, where appropriate, in the pensioner's home. The Pension Service is also working with partner organisations at national and local level to encourage take-up of the new entitlement.