Tackling Pensioner Poverty

The 2002 report Tackling pensioner poverty: encouraging take-up of entitlements (ISBN 0102919577) examined efforts by the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the take-up of benefits by pensioners. It was followed by a report from the Committee of Public Accounts (ISBN 0215009347) that made a number of recommendations. This report looks at the changes the Department have made against those recommendations and the challenges that remain. The overall conclusion is that the Pension Service has made substantial progress in helping pensioners secure their entitlements, using new and thought through approaches. However there is more to be done. This report is accompanied by a technical report that describes the methodology and findings in greater detail.

The main report is also available (HCP 1178-I, ISBN 0102942315). A previous NAO report on this topic (HCP 37, session 2002-03) (ISBN 0102919577) and a report by the Committee of Public Accounts (HCP 565, session 2002-03) (ISBN 0215009347) are also available.

In 2000-01, there were two million pensioners living in low-income households in Britain, yet significant numbers do not claim the welfare benefits to which they are entitled. This report examines the activities of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to tackle pensioner poverty by encouraging pensioners to take up their benefit entitlements, as well as the barriers to take-up and options to address this problem. Findings include: the complexity of the benefits system, the way it is administered, and pensioners' attitudes to claiming benefits all create barriers to take-up; pensioners' knowledge is poorest about benefits that supplement low incomes, those for disabled people, and for those people with caring responsibilities; and the creation of the Pension Service in 2002 is a major opportunity to establish a more pro-active approach, in partnership with other agencies, to promoting take-up than under the Benefits Agency. There is considerable scope for increasing take-up through more systematic and focused application of best practice, including targeted take-up campaigns by voluntary bodies.

A previous NAO report in 2002 'Tackling pensioner poverty: encouraging take-up of entitlements (ISBN 9780102919578) examined efforts by the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the take-up of benefits by pensioners; and it was followed by a report from the Committee of Public Accounts (ISBN 9780215009340) that made a number of recommendations. Following from a subsequent report by the NAO (HCP 1178-I, session 2005-06; ISBN 9780102942316) published in July 2006, this report examines the reasons for unclaimed entitlements, the progress that has been made in encouraging the take-up of benefits since 2003 and the scope for further improvement. Findings include that despite considerable progress at the national and local level to tackle pensioner poverty, there are still over one million pensioners who are not claiming Pension Credits, almost a third of eligible pensioners. Low take-up rates are highlighted amongst older pensioners, those from ethnic minorities and those living in rural areas. The Pension Service needs to improve its co-ordination of partnership work with other health and housing service providers and local groups; and, given the complexity of the benefits system, the DWP needs to develop a target relating to take-up rates for Attendance Allowance and a system that would allow pensioners to claim linked benefits through a single transaction.

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