Pension Credit: Age
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on people of the planned increase in the Pension Credit qualifying age; and what steps she is taking to (a) inform and (b) support those affected.
Answered by Torsten Bell
The qualifying age for Pension Credit is linked to State Pension age and will therefore increase to age 67 over a two-year phasing period, 2026 to 2028, as a consequence of the increase to State Pension age over the same period. The changes were legislated for by the previous Government in Pensions Act 2014, as part of which an Impact Assessment on changes to State Pension age was published in May 2014.
People due to reach State Pension age during the phasing period were sent letters informing them of the change between December 2016 and May 2018.
Entitlement to Pension Credit is based on the circumstances of people at the point they make a claim and only established once a valid claim is made, which cannot be done automatically. It is not possible to identify people who will benefit from Pension Credit in advance. Information about Pension Credit, including the qualifying age, is available on gov.uk. Since September the Department has been running a campaign to promote Pension Credit and the work to raise awareness of Pension Credit continues through this year.
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