Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, is demanding action to tackle unclaimed benefits. The MP says that billions of pounds remain unclaimed every year.

Speaking from Westminster, the MP said: “We need fresh thinking to address the scandal of unclaimed benefits. People who are entitled to the money, for whatever reason, don’t claim.”

The MP added:  “The money should either be paid out as a “dividend” or top-up to those already receiving the benefit or, perhaps, some other imaginative way can be found to use the cash. The sums involved are staggering.

The Department for Work and Pensions publishes regular estimates of benefit take-up for the principal means-tested benefits - Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.  The latest figures cover 2006-07.

Estimates of benefit take-up are given as ranges.

The MP said: “Taking all five income-related benefits together, there was between £6,180 million and £9,990 million left unclaimed in 2006-07. This compares to £34,630 million that was claimed and represents take-up by expenditure of between about 78 per cent and 85 per cent.”

“We also have a huge amount of unclaimed tax credits. HMRC estimates that between £3,290 million and £5,010 million in tax credits was left unclaimed in 2005-06, with a ‘central estimate’ of £4,140 million.

Estimates of the take-up of the Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit are published by HM Revenue and Customs, using a similar methodology to that used by the DWP.  The most recent figures are for the 2005-06 tax year.