With spring now well on the way, if not in progress, it’s time to ask whatever happened to… the Pension Credit crisis?
Back in July 2024, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced that receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by pensioners would be means-tested, with receipt of Pension Credit being the yardstick by which the money would be delivered.
This led to an 81 per cent increase in applications for Pension Credit, that caught the Department for Work and Pensions entirely off-guard because Kendall had failed to prepare for a large rise in applications; between July 29, 2024, and February 23, 2025, the DWP received 235,000 Pension Credit claims.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
She belatedly employed 500 additional staff to tackle the rise, resulting in a reduction of outstanding claims from a peak of 85,500 in mid-December to 33,700 by February 23, 2025, aligning with normal processing levels.
But then, the deadline for applications that would qualify people to receive the Winter Fuel Payment was December 8, 2024, so it is hardly surprising that they dropped off after that date.
My question now is: how many people (if any) died of hunger or the cold, before their application was processed? How many (if any) died after their application was rejected?
Looking at the DWP, how many of the 500 extra civil servants who were deployed to deal with the claims have been – or will be – laid off to meet Rachel Reeves’s demand for 10,000 job losses?
Finally: Liz Kendall has announced sweeping cuts to eligibility for sickness and disability benefits. Has she learned her lesson and put in place staff to handle increased contact from people who are concerned that they may lose benefit? What about staff to handle appeals against benefit rejections? Will staff who dealt with the Pension Credit fiasco be re-deployed to this? Has this already happened?
These are questions that a responsible government – and Labour MPs are constantly banging a drum about responsibility on their media rounds – would answer before they have to be asked.
I have sent off a Freedom of Information request. I await the response with impatience.
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Whatever happened to… the Pension Credit crisis?
With spring now well on the way, if not in progress, it’s time to ask whatever happened to… the Pension Credit crisis?
Back in July 2024, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced that receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by pensioners would be means-tested, with receipt of Pension Credit being the yardstick by which the money would be delivered.
This led to an 81 per cent increase in applications for Pension Credit, that caught the Department for Work and Pensions entirely off-guard because Kendall had failed to prepare for a large rise in applications; between July 29, 2024, and February 23, 2025, the DWP received 235,000 Pension Credit claims.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
She belatedly employed 500 additional staff to tackle the rise, resulting in a reduction of outstanding claims from a peak of 85,500 in mid-December to 33,700 by February 23, 2025, aligning with normal processing levels.
But then, the deadline for applications that would qualify people to receive the Winter Fuel Payment was December 8, 2024, so it is hardly surprising that they dropped off after that date.
My question now is: how many people (if any) died of hunger or the cold, before their application was processed? How many (if any) died after their application was rejected?
Looking at the DWP, how many of the 500 extra civil servants who were deployed to deal with the claims have been – or will be – laid off to meet Rachel Reeves’s demand for 10,000 job losses?
Finally: Liz Kendall has announced sweeping cuts to eligibility for sickness and disability benefits. Has she learned her lesson and put in place staff to handle increased contact from people who are concerned that they may lose benefit? What about staff to handle appeals against benefit rejections? Will staff who dealt with the Pension Credit fiasco be re-deployed to this? Has this already happened?
These are questions that a responsible government – and Labour MPs are constantly banging a drum about responsibility on their media rounds – would answer before they have to be asked.
I have sent off a Freedom of Information request. I await the response with impatience.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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