13-year-old DWP plans to merge two key benefits get off the ground with £1m deal

Labour is pushing forward with its plans to shake up and streamline how certain benefits are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with the aim of simplifying the often convoluted rules around who can claim which benefits. First announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeve's Budget, it appears the government is moving ahead with the long-awaited merger of two major benefits.

In the coming years, older Brits can expect to see the way they are given support with living costs massively simplified, as Housing Benefit becomes merged with Pension Credit. This will make the low-income benefit a one-stop-shop for living costs, with it also being tied to the Winter Fuel Payment.

However, these plans have been floating around for 13 years, with little hope that reform would be brought in. In signing a new £1 million deal with IBM to get the ball rolling, the DWP is tasking the tech company with helping it to "explore and identify the best strategic solution for bringing together the administration of Housing Benefit and Pension Credit," according to the contract.

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Under the previous Conservative government, this long-awaited benefits merger appeared to have been kicked into the long grass, with no expected reform until 2028, but it seems that Labour are looking to speed up this change.

In Pension Credit guidance issued in September, the now Labour-run DWP promised to finally make the steps to simplify benefits received by people over the pension age. The department stated: "We will work with Local Authorities to bring together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit as soon as operationally possible."

The scheme to