No further pensioner support over winter fuel, No 10 says

The prime minister’s deputy spokesperson said the government would “continue to urge people to check their eligibility” for pension credit and to “support people in making those applications”.

The spokesperson said there had been 38,500 pension credit claims in the last five weeks.

In comparison, there had been 17,900 claims over the five weeks before Ms Reeves announced the payment would only be available to those on certain benefits in July.

The PM’s spokesperson said this was a 115% increase, but added the campaign to get pensioners to sign up was “ongoing” and there was “still more to do”.

Dave Stone, from Bournemouth, has been facing a delay with applying for pension credit since 6 February, months before planned cuts to the winter fuel payment were announced, and says the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is now “even busier because of the latest changes”.

He applied online to claim pension credit for his aunt, following the council telling him she was eligible, and was given a six-week deadline of 19 March for a response. He said he still does not have an answer seven months later, despite nearly 20 interactions with the team.

“Every time I gave them an extra week or two, then I would call them back after they’d missed their deadlines, and nothing much would happen,” Mr Stone told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

“They’ve got to the stage where they’re now even busier because of the latest changes they can’t put anybody through to the pensions centre any more – all they can say is ‘we’ll call you back’ and of course I know [that] isn’t going to happen.”

A DWP spokesman said it had “surged additional staff” to cover the increase in pension credit calls.

Government figures had suggested there were about 800,000 households who were eligible for pension credit but did not claim it.