Pensioners are ill-informed

Mr Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, said that many pensioners were confused by government benefits such as the Minimum Income Guarantee, Council Tax Benefit, and Housing Benefit.

As a result, almost �2bn of pensioner benefits remains unclaimed, a state of affairs Mr Leigh described as "lamentable".

The committee's criticism comes hot on the heels of the revelation that two million families have failed to take up child tax credits - a flagship government policy meant to lift children out of poverty and ease the burden on working families.

Urgent action

The Committee of Public Accounts has been examining how well the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is tackling the problem of poor take-up of pension benefits.

Although the committee praised the setting up of the Pension Service to better inform the public of any benefits that they may be entitled to, Mr Leigh said that the DWP still had a lot of work to do.

"Some 2 million pensioners live in low-income households but almost �2bn of the main pot of benefits available to them remains unclaimed.

"The lamentable state of affairs where vulnerable pensioners are confused about the support they are entitled to and have to provide the same information time and again to different agencies must be addressed as a matter of urgency," Mr Leigh said.

The committee concluded that many pensioners find it difficult to obtain information on benefits, and rely heavily on what friends and relatives tell them.

Computer problems

The committee said it had repeatedly expressed concerns about DWP computer systems and the impact of their weaknesses on customer service.

Alarmingly, the committee said that a deadline of 2006 for the DWP to show significant improvement in its computer systems was nearing but "without clear evidence of progress."

Poor take-up by target groups of government benefits seems to be a recurring theme.

Last week the government came under heavy criticism after two million families failed to register to collect child tax credits worth �45 a week.

Just three million of the five million plus families eligible for child credit and the new working tax credit had sent in claim forms by the end of February, according to Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo.