I asked the Scottish Government how it is using the Scottish social security system to alleviate poverty among pensioners.
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (Shirley-Anne Somerville) told me:
We are delivering real support to pensioners across Scotland by investing about £157 million to help approximately 880,000 pensioners stay warm during the coldest months. Unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom, eligible low-income households across Scotland, including pensioner households, are also guaranteed support through our winter heating payment.
We have issued more than £33 million since launching the pension-age disability payment to help to mitigate the additional costs that are incurred by older disabled people and by those with long-term health conditions. Meanwhile, take-up rates for pension credit remain low, and I urge the UK Government to do more to promote that reserved benefit.
I am glad that the cabinet secretary mentioned pension credit, which is key to supporting low-income households, including those with pensioners, but which often goes unclaimed, as she indicated. Benefit criteria are also too restrictive at times.
I asked what the Scottish Government can do to assist with the take-up of pension credit, even although it is a reserved benefit. I also wanted to know how the commitments on pension credit that are included in the Scottish Government paper “A Fresh Start with Independence” could ensure that pensioners get the support that they need.
She replied:
Although the responsibility for pension credit ultimately lies with the UK Government and the Department for Work and Pensions, we will continue to explore the opportunities to raise the awareness of people in Scotland of that payment—once again, we are doing the UK Government’s job for it.
The Scottish Government is delivering a benefit take-up strategy, and I hope that the DWP could have a similar strategy, to include pension credit. As Mr Doris has highlighted, our paper “A Fresh Start with Independence” demonstrated how the social security system could be improved. For example, steps could be taken in the early years to ensure that people receive the pension credit that they are entitled to, and those steps could include issuing invitations to apply for pension credit to everyone who is approaching state pension age, which would be a proactive role to increase the take-up of benefits by those who are eligible.