Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
2nd Report - Pensioner Poverty: challenges and mitigations
Work and Pensions Committee
HC 465
Published 24 July 2025
Recommendations
36
Rejected
Consider implementing a Pension Credit taper and assess options to mitigate its cliff-edge effect.
Recommendation
The Government should consider the case for a taper in Pension Credit, paying particular attention to equity of outcomes for people close to the threshold, and assess other options to mitigate the cliff-edge effect. (Recommendation, Paragraph 175)
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the case for an income taper in Pension Credit, citing concerns about increased complexity, potential impact on take-up, higher expenditure, and undermining the new State Pension's strategic rationale, while noting some benefits are still available to pensioners not receiving Pension Credit.
Department for Work and Pensions
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38
Rejected
Investigate work conditionality for younger partners in mixed-age couples, considering health and caring responsibilities.
Recommendation
The Government should investigate the extent to which it is reasonable to assume that the younger partners in these couples should be subject to work conditionality—taking account of any health conditions and caring responsibilities—and report back to the Committee by …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation to investigate the conditionality for younger partners in mixed-age couples, stating there are no plans to change or explore these requirements.
Department for Work and Pensions
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42
Rejected
Produce comprehensive impact assessment of State Pension age increase by 2025, including mitigation.
Recommendation
By the end of 2025, the Government must produce an impact assessment of the forthcoming increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67. This should consider the cumulative impact of policies and set out the impact on pre-pensioner …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation to produce an impact assessment by the end of 2025, stating that the increase in State Pension age to 67 will only be evaluated once the rise is complete in 2028.
Department for Work and Pensions
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Conclusions (3)
25
Conclusion
Rejected
DWP should develop a strategy for benefits take-up in England by the end of 2025. It should work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop a framework for monitoring local authority work on take up and holding them to account for the results. We have heard …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to develop a framework for monitoring and holding local authorities accountable for benefit take-up, stating it does not believe additional burdens should be placed on them. It notes its existing support for local authorities and will consider the experience of Scottish and Welsh governments' take-up activities, but does not commit to a specific take-up strategy for England by 2025 or promote research on economic gains.
35
Conclusion
Rejected
The reason the new State Pension was set above the Pension Credit Guarantee was to improve savings incentives. However, over the years more ‘passported benefits’ have become linked to it, meaning that being just a few pounds above Pension Credit level can now mean missing out on thousands of pounds …
Government Response Summary
The government explains Pension Credit's purpose and rationale, arguing against reintroducing an income taper for the Guarantee Credit due to increased complexity, potential impact on take-up, higher expenditure, and undermining the new State Pension's strategic rationale.
37
Conclusion
Rejected
The mixed age couple rule means that where one member of a couple is under pension age, they must claim working age benefits, rather than pension benefits as previously. The outcome is that some people in their 70s are still on Universal Credit, which is paid at a significantly lower …
Government Response Summary
The government reiterated its existing policy for mixed-age couples to claim Universal Credit, stating this approach ensures working-age members receive support to find work. It confirmed there are no plans to change or explore these requirements, effectively rejecting the implied criticism of its rationale.