HC Deb 14 June 2004 vol 422 c728W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many(a) individuals and (b) households he expects to be eligible for pension credit in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2008–09; [177548]

(2) what his Department's target is for the number of (a) individuals and (b) households who will be receiving pension credit by (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08. [177549]

Malcolm Wicks

Estimates of levels of eligibility for pension credit to 2008–09 are provided in the table. The Department has set a Public Service Agreement target for at least three million pensioner households, corresponding to around 3.7 million individuals, to be in receipt of pension credit by March 2006 and is on course to achieve this.

Number of households and individuals estimated to be eligible for

pension credit, 2004–05 to 2008–09

Million
Households Individuals
2004—05 3.75 4.85
2005—06 3.85 5.00
2006—07 3.95 5.10
2007—08 4.10 5.35
2008—09 4.25 5.55
Notes:
1. Estimates for private households and individuals are based on Family Resources Survey data for 2002–03 projected forward to reflect changes in taxes, benefit rates and pensioners' incomes.
2. Estimates for pensioners in care homes are based on DWP administrative data on the number of recipients of minimum income guarantee in residential care and nursing homes and on data from Health Departments on the number of local authority supported care home residents.
3. Estimates have been rounded to the nearest 50,000 cases, are subject to a wide margin of error and should be used as broad indications of the likely eligible population only.
4. A pensioner household is defined as single persons aged 60 or over and couples where at least one partner is aged 60 or over. Individuals are single pensioners with eligibility and both partners in a couple with eligibility.