Bereavement Benefits (Hansard, 12 January 2004)

§ Mr. Willetts
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) widows and (b) widowers have been refused benefit on the grounds of being late claimants in each year from 1997 to 2002. [145979]

§ Mr. Pond
The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Bereavement Benefits were introduced on 9 April 2001, and for the first time extended support to both widows and widowers following the death of a spouse. These new benefits concentrate the help available where it is most needed; on immediate needs and on families with children.
In April 2003 we extended the time limit for claiming Bereavement Payment to 12 months aligning it with the period over which a person can receive Bereavement Allowance.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what means couples are made aware of the rules relating to bereavement benefits; and if he will make a statement. [146206]

§ Mr. Pond
Information is available from local Jobcentre Plus and Social Security offices, and the Department for Work and Pensions website gives information about Bereavement Benefits together with leaflets and claim forms for downloading. A fully revised version of leaflet NP45 "A guide to Bereavement Benefit" for professional advisers and members of the public was published in May this year. Leaflets D49 "What to do after a death in England and Wales" and D49S "What to do after a death in Scotland" are reviewed and revised as necessary annually.
In addition, we have been working with funeral directors, Registrars and voluntary groups such as Cruse, National Association of Widows and Citizens Advice Bureaux who may be contacted by bereaved people.
We have worked with Registrars to amend the social security form for notifying the Department of a death (BD8) to draw greater attention to the fact that it can be used to initiate a claim for bereavement benefits, this went to print in April 2003 and has been in use by Registrars since then. Within the last year we have also arranged for Funeral Directors to be able to obtain Bereavement Benefit claim packs so that they can be given directly to bereaved people.
We keep under review the way that information is made available about bereavement benefits so that bereaved people, at this very difficult time in their lives, know about their potential right to benefit and can act on it at the right time.