FROM THE CHAMBER: Pension tax credit – a thank you to the community

I wanted to say thank you to all the members of the community who worked to help get eligible pensioners up for pension tax credit before Christmas.

Council officers and the voluntary sector have been working for the last few years to publicise this benefit and to help get those eligible signed up. Pension tax credit is an enormously valuable benefit which can make a huge difference to the lives of older residents on the lowest incomes. Pension Credit provides eligible households with an average income boost of around £3,900 a year. On top of this, it opens access to a number of other means tested benefits, from free TV licenses to council tax reductions. For all these reasons, getting pensioners signed up to this pension tax credit was already a priority.

The government’s announcement that the winter fuel allowance would be means tested added urgency to this work. There was a deadline of 21st December 2024 to get eligible residents signed up, if they were to get Winter Fuel Allowance for this winter.

We knew that as many as 845 households in Wokingham Borough could be missing out on pension credit. Frustratingly, we didn’t have access to any accurate information on who these individuals were.

The Council, residents and our Voluntary and Community Sector partners swung into action. These are just a few examples of the work they did:

Wokingham Today published information on the benefit and how people could claim.

Bracknell police carry out night-time speed checks after residents’ requests

RSPCA appeals after cat is shot with airgun in village near Reading

The Council Finance team sent out around 1,000 letters to pensioners they had identified as potentially eligible.

The Communications team included messages in resident newsletters and the Council website.

Customer facing staff advised members of the public.

The Council’s Welfare Services and volunteers in our Library service and Age UK Berkshire helped people to make claims.

Members of the public spread the word to neighbours and family members.

Because we don’t receive updates from the DWP, it is difficult to estimate the results of our work, but we do know (for example), that links on the council webpage generated hundreds of visits to the government’s Pension Credit Eligibility Checker.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make a difference.

We will, of course, still be supporting pensioners to access this benefit throughout the year. I’ve included some information to help residents at the end of this article.

In doing this work, we’ve become aware that the DWP knows which individuals are eligible for pension tax credit but have not yet claimed it. At the present time, it is their policy not to release this information to councils. I am exploring with the officers as well as Clive Jones’ office, whether we could approach the government to get this policy changed, as this would be hugely beneficial to us in supporting older residents on the lowest incomes.

Claiming Pension Tax Credit

The rules for eligibility are complex, but to get Pension Credit you will need to be of state pension age (currently 66 or older) and have a total weekly income under roughly £227.10 if you’re single, or £346.60 if you’re a couple (these figures are the new rates which will apply from April 2025). Pensioners with higher incomes can get Pension Credit in certain circumstances. There is an online Pension Credit checker, and a national helpline which you can contact on 0800 99 1234.

Wokingham Borough Council’s cost of living crisis help page for pensioners has links and further information on Pension Credit and other sources of help at wokingham.gov.uk/cost-living/cost-living-help-pensioners.

If you need help in claiming this allowance, please contact Citizens Advice on 0808 278 7958 or Age UK Berkshire on 0118 959 4242. Library staff and council staff who deal directly with the public have also been trained to signpost people to sources of help.

By Cllr Rachel Bishop-Firth