Pension Credit Take-Up

EDM number 202 in 2004-05, proposed by David Willetts on 25/11/2004.

That this House is concerned that over one and a half million pensioners who are eligible to pension credit do not receive the money to which they are entitled; notes that many of those who do not claim are the poorest pensioners; is aware that a recent Age Concern survey found that 73 per cent. of pensioners believe that means-testing puts people off applying for the benefit and that nine out of ten pensioners receiving pension credit want the Government to provide a higher basic state pension; recognises that a consensus is developing between organisations as diverse as the Association of British Insurers, the National Association of Pension Funds, Age Concern, the National Pensioners' Convention and the Conservative Party about the need to reduce means-testing by raising the value of the basic state pension; and calls on the Government to join the consensus by increasing the basic state pension by earnings not prices to reverse the spread of means-testing.

This motion has been signed by a total of 63 MPs.