Speeches by Kendall.

“—and then to the 120,000 on Housing Benefit trying to encourage them to claim too. Later this month, I think it is 28 November, we will be publishing the latest claims and, I believe, uptake figures.”

“We have written to all pensioners about the change—”

“The short answer to that is, yes, we are seeing an increase in the time. The latest published figures we have show that there has been a 152% increase in claims. I think that for September the average time was within the 50 days, 10 weeks goal. In October, however that crept up to 52 days. That is why we have deployed …”

“Regardless, because they are entitled to it. That is what I want to see. I am not claiming that I am going to give you a date. It is hard but I am determined to do everything I can.”

“I would like every pensioner who is entitled to Pension Credit up to £3,900 to get it, yes.”

“You know the reason why we took the decision. We needed to make in-year savings. However, may I also be very clear to the Committee that the Chancellor is also onto this, increasing take-up, and likes regular updates of how we are doing. She is as committed as I am to doing that. We will publish data about claims and u…”

“The 5% increase that the OBR has scored in the Budget was on the basis of action taken by the previous Government. I think it was around free TV licences, as to what we think it will increase by. Of course it would only be 5% if we only did what the last Government did, but we are writing for the first time to the 120,…”

“I thought somebody might ask this question. For me, there is no tension because I think it is a scandal that over 800,000 pensioners, the poorest pensioners, are losing up to £3,900 in Pension Credit that they should be entitled to. I also know that over many, many years, we have not been able to solve this because it …”

“I think our commitment to insulate 5 million homes and consulting on improving the energy efficiency of private rented sector and social housing is something new.”

“Insulating people’s homes, starting with the very poorest. We are also consulting right now on energy efficiency in social housing and the private rented sector. We do have targeted support on the very poorest and on low-income households, as well as the flat rate increase for everyone, which is significant because of …”

“The Pension Credit is, the Warm Homes Discount is.”

“As you know, we are looking at the three elements of the pension triple lock. It is for everybody, but it will mean that over the course of the Parliament, it is estimated that people will see a £1,900 increase in the new State Pension. That is a significant commitment to all pensioners but has that extra targeted supp…”

“I would start first, last and always with our commitment to the pension triple lock, which will see the basic State Pension increased by over £360 next April. The new State Pension will increase by £470 a year next April. Over the course of the Parliament, it will see over £30 billion extra spending in the State Pensio…”

“Yes, I have been working with the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, on this issue because we know that if you are an older or disabled person, maybe with two or more chronic conditions, at home, less mobile, and with greater need for heating, that is a very important issue. We have been working with Wes Streeting to ens…”

“Thank you. It is a real pleasure and honour to be here today. I know of the excellent work the Committee has done and I believe will continue to do, and I look forward to working with you in a spirit of openness, honesty and, above all, accountability to Parliament and to the public. It is a great honour to be here tod…”

“What I will do, if that is okay, is ask Emma Reynolds, the Minister for Pensions, to write to you—I am just looking at officials—as soon as possible.”

“Yes. There are two things. We cannot have 300,000 people every year falling out of work. We have to start dealing with that through early intervention, in work, and you have to, within that first year, pile in support. This is interesting. Last Friday I visited my local hospital, which has done a year-long supported in…”

“I am a strong champion of devolution, not for its own sake but because of better results for people. In Leicester—sorry, you will hear me talking a lot about Leicester but it is my job—my challenge is around economic inactivity. The biggest reason people give is caring for a family member, often in multi-generational h…”

“I have met—virtually met—with all the devolved Administrations about working together. We have had a very clear signal from the Prime Minister all the way down that we need to build a good working relationship with the devolved Administrations. There have been challenges along the way, including over winter fuel. I und…”

“That is so important. The real changes from the previous Government's approach are, first, that we want it very clear on the Bill, a code of practice on the face of the Bill. Secondly, we want independent oversight of what is happening to make sure that what we are doing is right, fair and proportionate, with reporting…”