Written questions by Evans.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of age-related discrimination on (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the workplace.

The Government recognises the need to recruit on merit, irrespective of a persons' age. The 2010 Equality Act provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment, rendering it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on age.Employers play a key role in helping older individuals in the workplace.  Age diversity within the workforce brings numerous benefits to businesses, in addition to broader advantages such as fresh perspectives and knowledge-sharing.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is therefore working across government, and through regular engagement with employers, to encourage positive attitudes towards older people and has signed the Age-friendly employer pledge, a nationwide initative led by the Centre for Ageing Better, aimed at promoting age inclusive working practices.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 5385 on Pension Credit, how much extra funding her Department has secured for additional staffing to improve processing times.

The details of the departmental budgets for 24/25 and 25/26 will be agreed through the Spending Review. This will include details of funding to support Pension Credit claims.

If she will publish the impact assessment for the changes to the Winter Fuel Payment regulations.

The Regulations came into force on the 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week. A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this legislation because the effect is on individuals and private households rather than businesses or voluntary sector organisations. In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. The equality analysis was published on Friday 13th September, and can be found here: Responses to Freedom of Information requests on Equality Impact Assessments produced for targeting Winter Fuel Payment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2024 to Question 33 on State Retirement Pensions: Women and with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, what steps her Department is taking to consider the issues in the report.

Work is ongoing to consider the Ombudsman’s report and the views that have been expressed on all sides including the recommendations made by the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the points raised by representatives from the WASPI Campaign who I met on the 5th of September. Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will be in a position to outline its approach.

What comparative assessment she has made of trends in the take up of Pension Credit between (a) July 2024 and September 2024 and (b) July 2022 and July 2024.

Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain are published annually and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The annual publication reports on the take-up of Pension Credit on a financial year basis, and so it is not possible to do a comparative assessment on a partial year time period. A comparative assessment can be made by financial years, with the next publication covering financial year ending 2023 being released on 10 October 2024.

What the average processing time for a Pension Credit application was in the latest period for which data is available; and whether she has taken steps to improve that processing time.

The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts published on 22nd July 2024 (link to ARA 23/24). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%. The department has secured funding for additional staffing to improve processing times.