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The UK Government should have a more targeted approach towards Pension Credit, an MP has argued.

Gerald Jones, MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, called on the UK Government to improve its approach to help pensioners who are eligible for pension credit but are not receiving it.

Speaking in the House of Commons on September 4, Mr Jones said: “We know that 770,000 pensioners are eligible for pension credit but are not receiving it.

“The Government have the data and could take a much more targeted approach to get eligible people to apply, so why have they not taken that action? When will we see more action from the Government?”

Mr Jones has previously spoken of the importance of this issue.

Writing in a blog for Caerphilly Observer in November 2022, Mr Jones highlighted that he had recently joined Citizens Advice and put on a “pension credit action day”.

This took place in the Ael-y-Bryn community centre in Rhymney, where more than 200 people attended, and another event took place in Merthyr.

Mr Jones wrote: “Incredibly, in just one day we were able to increase income via benefit take-up by over £200,000. As CAB rightly stated, in a cost-of-living crisis this support is simply invaluable.”

In response to Mr Jones in the House of Commons, Laura Trott MP, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for work and pensions, said: “I thank [Mr Jones] for the work he is doing in his constituency. I assure him that that is exactly what the government are doing.

“We recently launched an ‘invitation to claim’ trial, which has been rolled out in ten constituencies and is using housing benefit data to target those who might also be eligible for pension credit. We will report back on the results of that trial later this year.”