Press Release - Tackling pensioner poverty: Encouraging take-up
of entitlements
20 November 2002
Head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn, reported
today that, in recognising the good progress made by the Department
for Work and Pensions and other public bodies working with
pensioners in encouraging benefit take up, more could be done.
Although two million pensioners live in low-income households, many
tens of thousand miss out on benefit entitlements annually - with
up to £1.9 billion in income-related benefits lying unclaimed,
according to latest estimates.
Today’s report to Parliament points out that the historical
structure of the benefits system itself, the way it is
administered, and pensioners’ attitudes to benefits all create
barriers to take-up. The National Audit Office has examined what
can been done to overcome these barriers. Action already taken
includes the creation of The Pension Service in April this year,
the redesign of the form for Minimum Income Guarantee to make it
easier to claim, and a dedicated telephone claim line (the Minimum
Income Guarantee Claimline - freephone 0800 0281111). But,
according to Sir John, more could be done, by The Pension Service
on its own and working with local authorities and voluntary bodies,
who are often best placed to encourage take-up.
The National Audit Office’s work showed that different groups of
people were more responsive to different types of benefit
information and that many approaches to encouraging take up are
inexpensive and appear to have considerable effect. Sir John sees
the creation of The Pension Service as a major opportunity and
welcomes its intention of adopting a more proactive and tailored
approach to encouraging take up of benefit entitlements than under
the former Benefits Agency and of working in partnership with other
organisations.
Many low-income pensioners have little knowledge about the
benefits available to them and tend to find out about them from
relatives and friends, rather than official sources. Certain
groups, such as pensioners in rural areas, those with sensory
impairments, and pensioners from ethnic minorities, face additional
barriers. There is scope to make details of pensions and other
benefits available to older people better known among a wider
audience, including the range of professionals who deal with
pensioners.
There were 11 million pensioners in 2000. This number will grow
by nearly 50 per cent in the next 40 years. It is estimated that in
1999-2000 between £930 million and £1,860 million in entitlements
to income-related benefits was not claimed by pensioners. Between a
quarter and a third of entitled pensioners do not claim the Minimum
Income Guarantee (a median of £12.80 a week is unclaimed).
Approximately one third of pensioners do not claim Council Tax
Benefit, and one tenth of those entitled to Housing Benefit do not
claim. Efforts to encourage take-up of welfare benefits can have a
significant impact increasing incomes and tackling poverty. The
National Audit Office report that many recipients spend additional
money on essential items such as nutritious food, or heating and
transport costs.
The introduction in 2003 of Pension Credit will make more
pensioners eligible for additional entitlement. The size of the
task for the Department in encouraging take up will be
significantly increased.
Among the NAO’s other recommendations are that:
- the DWP should set realistic and stretching national targets
for the take up of Pension Credit and the Pension Service should
ensure they are cascaded down to the local level;
- the Department must have better and more detailed data on
estimated non-take-up (including for particular groups such as
ethnic minorities) to enable it to assess whether take up work is
having an effect;
- The Pension Service should evaluate what initiatives work and
in what circumstances;
- The Pension Service should build on the work it has already
done to work in partnership with other bodies such as local
authorities, voluntary bodies, and, where appropriate, other
government bodies such as the Housing Corporation or the Department
of Health; and
- greater use should be made of existing routine contacts that
many pensioners have with a wide range of professionals and other
bodies, such as GPs and district nurses, so that the pensioners can
be pointed towards reliable sources of information about
benefits.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"Many tens of thousands of pensioners who live in
poverty each year miss out on benefits to which they are entitled
but which they fail to claim. Taking up these entitlements can have
a significant effect on the lives of these pensioners since much of
the additional money is spent on a range of essential items such as
nutritious food and clothing.
"The Department for Work and Pensions have made a start
in addressing this situation, by making it easier to claim Minimum
Income Guarantee and by establishing The Pension Service, but
clearly more could be done. The Pension Service cannot tackle the
problem of non-take up on its own. Others who provide services for
pensioners such as local authorities and the voluntary sector also
have an important role to play to encourage them to claim the money
to which they are entitled."
Notes for Editors
- To apply for the Minimum Income Guarantee, people should phone
the Minimum Income Guarantee Claimline (freephone 0800 0281111).
For Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit they should contact
their local council. The Benefits Enquiry Line (freephone 0800 88
22 00) provides confidential advice and information about benefits
for people with disabilities, their representatives and carers.
Advice about benefits is also available from local offices of Age
Concern and Citizens Advice Bureaux.
- The Pensioners' guide - Making the most of Government
help and advice is available free of charge from 0845
606 5065 (textphone 0845 606 4064) and on the internet: http://www.info4pensioners.gov.uk/
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at www.nao.org.uk.
Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and
the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 67/02
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