§ The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith)Payment of the new Pension Credit began on 6 October. I can now report the following progress on applications for the new entitlement; figures represent the period up to 6 October 2003.
There are now around 1.9 million pensioner households on our systems being paid Pension Credit, which represents over 2 million individuals. All those who were receiving Minimum Income Guarantee have now been transferred automatically onto Pension Credit. Of the awards made 1.15 million pensioner households (over 1.3 million pensioners) will get more than they would have before.
Our direct mail campaign is continuing, supported by a major advertising campaign on TV and in the press which began in September. We have now written to some 1.6 million households and will have written to all pensioner households by June 2004. We are continuing to work with partner organisations, such as Help The Aged, Age Concern and Citizens Advice, amongst others, both at a national and local level, to encourage eligible people to take up their entitlement.
We have made good use of an advance application period, which began in April, to ensure that our systems and procedures are working as they should and we have recruited extra staff and invested in new infrastructure to meet the additional demands of the new entitlement.
There is plenty of time for pensioners to apply for Pension Credit. To ensure that pensioners do not lose out, there is a twelve month backdating provision until October 2004. This will allow applications to be backdated to October 2003, where entitlement exists, or to the date entitlement begins if this is later.
I am placing a chart showing progress so far in the Library. From November onwards, I will provide more detailed monthly progress reports on take up of Pension Credit.