Nearly 400 old age pensioners have still not filled in a form to declare they remain entitled to a pension - despite threats that payments could be stopped.

Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan insisted this week that every effort would be made to contact those who had not replied, before moves would be made to withhold payments.

Last month letters were sent to 756 pensioners who had still to respond to a letter from October that demanded they complete and return a declaration of continuing entitlement to their pension.

They were told they had until March 18 to respond and threatened with the possibility of their pension being suspended if they did not.

Jason Moorhouse MHK (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), who has previously expressed concern at the heavy handed approach of the Treasury, asked for an update in the House of Keys on Tuesday. Mr Cannan said that, as of Monday last week, 325 of 756 had now provided their forms, but 431 had not.

’Of those that had not, 47 have either unfortunately died or responsibility for payment to their pensions has been transferred to the UK Department for Work and Pensions since the letter was sent,’ he said.

Mr Cannan - who last year apologised to pensioners who had been upset by the tone of the original letter in October, which also carried a warning of payments being withheld - said it was ’incumbent’ the Treasury ensured taxpayers’ money used for pensions was not being distributed ’in a way it should not be’.

But he added: ’We will make every reasonable effort in the coming weeks to contact those people who have not returned forms and, only in the event of having followed all reasonable and lawful avenues of inquiry, would we then suspend state pension pending further response or contact from the individual concerned.’