HC Deb 05 March 2004 vol 418 cc1200-1W
Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the average Pension Credit payment is in(a) Greater London and (b) each London borough; [159255]

(2) how many pensioners are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of Pension Credit in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough; [159256]

(3) how many pensioners were in receipt of the Minimum Income Guarantee in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough at the last date on which it was paid. [159257]

Malcolm Wicks

Information on the number of pensioners in receipt of the Minimum Income Guarantee in(a) Greater London and (b) each London borough as at 3 October 2003 is shown in the table.

Information on the number of people who are eligible for Pension Credit is not available in respect of individual local authority areas. However, we estimate that approximately 450,000 pensioner households (approximately 500,000 individuals) in the London Government Office Region (rounded to the nearest 50,000) are eligible for Pension Credit. Information on numbers of Pension Credit recipients in the London boroughs and average levels of award is given in the table.