HC Deb 21 January 1985 vol 71 cc349-52W
Sir Hector Monro

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the meteorological data upon which the Chief Adjudicating Officer based his decision to authorise an exceptionally severe weather payment in East Anglia and southern England for the week ended 12 January; if he will give the comparable data for Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Whitney

The chief adjudication officer based his advice to local adjudication officers on criteria published in paragraphs 7426–7459 and Appendix 19 of the 'S' manual (a copy of which is in the Library) using temperature data obtained from the Meteorological Office. The data requested by my hon. Friend are set out in the table. The table also includes the trigger points for the areas concerned: these are points at which the chief adjudication officer considers the "exceptionally severe weather" condition in the regulations to be satisfied. Trigger points have been fixed for the areas covered by each of 17 weather stations in Great Britain, following discussions with the Meteorological Office and on the basis of an analysis of the coldest periods over a number of years and other advice.

Weather station Degree day total for the week ending 12 January 1985 Trigger points
Two weather stations in England for the areas experiencing exceptionally severe weather
Bournemouth 123.1 119
Honnington (Suffolk) 132.2 128
Weather stations used for assessing severity of weather in areas of Scotland
Boulmer 96.0 122
Carlisle 108.8 127
Glasgow 111.3 126
Leuchars 101.0 122
Aberdeen (Dyce) 97.9 129
Wick 95.6 119
Stornoway 82.6 111

Source: Meteorological Office.

Note: A "degree day" is the daily difference in degrees between a base temperature level at which it is estimated a building requires heating (15.5°C) and the 24-hour mean outside temperature. It is a widely used measure of temperature over time.

Mr. Winnick

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Chief Adjudication Officer has decided on any further authorisation of severe weather fuel payments to those on supplementary benefit.

Mr. Rowe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Chief Adjudication Officer is advising that the conditions for activating regulation 26 of the Supplementary Benefit Single Payment Regulations, relating to exceptionally severe weather, have been satisfied in any part of Great Britain in the week ended 19 January.

Mr. Whitney

The Chief Adjudication Officer has today decided to advise local adjudication officers that in the week ending 19 January the conditions for award of payments under single payment regulation 26 on the grounds of exceptionally severe weather have been satisfied in 5 weather station areas covering parts of Wales, the midlands and the south of England. The DHSS local office areas concerned are as follows.

The criteria on which the chief adjudication officer bases his advice are published in paragraphs 7426–7459 and Appendix 19 of the S manual (a copy of which is in the Library), and he applies them using temperature data obtained from the Meteorological Office. People eligible for supplementary benefit may therefore be entitled to single payments towards the cost of extra fuel they have had to use because of the cold weather. The normal rules governing entitlement to single payments apply, and any capital over £500 is taken into account in calculating any amount due. We are publicising the help which is available in the areas concerned and leaflets explaining how to claim can be obtained from local social security offices. Decisions on whether individuals are entitled to such payments are a matter for the independent adjudicating authorities.

Weather station—Heathrow

  • Acton ILO
  • Aldershot ILO
  • Ashford ILO
  • Aylesbury ILO
  • Balham ILO
  • Barking ILO
  • Barnet ILO
  • Basingstoke ILO
  • Battersea ILO
  • Bexley ILO
  • Bloomsbury AO
  • Bognor ILO
  • Bracknell ILO
  • Brighton ILO
  • Brixton ILO
  • Bromley ILO
  • Camberwell AO
  • Canning Town ILO
  • Canterbury AO
  • Chatham ILO
  • Chelsea ILO
  • Chichester ILO
  • Crawley ILO
  • Cricklewood ILO
  • Croydon ILO
  • Crystal Palace ILO
  • Dartford ILO
  • Dover ILO
  • Ealing ILO
  • Eastbourne ILO
  • Edgware ILO
  • Edmonton ILO
  • Eltham AO
  • Epsom ILO
  • Euston ILO
  • Finsbury Park ILO
  • Folkestone ILO
  • Gravesend ILO
  • Greenwich Park ILO
  • Greenwich West AO
  • Guildford ILO
  • Hackney ILO
  • Harlesden ILO
  • Harrow ILO
    • 351
  • Hastings ILO
  • Hemel Hempstead ILO
  • Hendon ILO
  • Hertford ILO
  • Highgate ILO
  • High Wycombe ILO
  • Hounslow ILO
  • Hove ILO
  • Hoxton ILO
  • Ilford ILO
  • Kennington AO
  • Kennington Park ILO
  • Kensington ILO
  • Kingston ILO
  • Lewis ILO
  • Lewisham ILO
  • Leytonstone ILO
  • Maidstone ILO
  • Milton Keynes ILO
  • Morden AO
  • Neasden ILO
  • Newbury ILO
  • Orpington ILO
  • Oxford AO
  • Paddington ILO
  • Peckham ILO
  • Plaistow ILO
  • Poplar ILO
  • Reading ILO
  • Redhill ILO
  • Rochester AO
  • Romford ILO
  • St. Albans ILO
  • Shoreditch AO
  • Sittingbourne ILO
  • Slough ILO
  • Southall ILO
  • Southwark ILO
  • Stepney AO
  • Stoke Newington ILO
  • Streatham ILO
  • Surbiton AO
  • Sutton AO
  • Thames North AO
  • Thames South AO
  • Thanet ILO
  • Tottenham ILO
  • Tunbridge Wells ILO
  • Twickenham ILO
  • Uxbridge ILO
  • Walthamstow ILO
  • Wandsworth ILO
  • Watford ILO
  • Westbourne Park AO
  • Westminster ILO
  • Wimbledon AO
  • Woodgrange Park ILO
  • Wood Green ILO
  • Woking ILO
  • Woolwich ILO
  • Worthing ILO

Weather station—Plymouth

  • Barnstaple ILO
  • Devonport ILO
  • Exeter ILO
  • Launceston ILO
  • Penzance ILO
  • Plymouth ILO
  • St. Austell ILO
  • Torbay ILO
  • Truro ILO

Weather station—Birmingham

  • Banbury ILO
  • Birmingham-Bradford St. AO
  • Birmingham-Edgbaston ILO
  • Birmingham-Erdington ILO
  • Birmingham-Handsworth ILO
  • Birmingham-Ladywood ILO
  • Birmingham-Northfield ILO
  • Birmingham-Perry Bar ILO
    • 352
  • Birmingham-Ravenshurst ILO
  • Birmingham-S. Yardley ILO
  • Birmingham-Sparkhill ILO
  • Birmingham-Washwood Heath ILO
  • Burton-on-Trent ILO
  • Cannock ILO
  • Corby ILO
  • Coventry (East) ILO
  • Coventry (West) ILO
  • Derby (London Road) ILO
  • Dudley (North) ILO
  • Dudley (South) ILO
  • Hereford ILO
  • Ilkeston ILO
  • Kidderminster ILO
  • Leamington ILO
  • Leicester (Burleys Way) ILO
  • Leicester (Lower Hill St.) ILO
  • Leicester (Norton St.) ILO
  • Leicester (Yeoman St.) ILO
  • Lichfield ILO
  • Loughborough ILO
  • Newcastle ILO
  • Northampton AO
  • Nottingham (Castlegate) ILO
  • Nottingham (David Lane) ILO
  • Nottingham (Shakespeare St.) ILO
  • Nottingham (Station St.) ILO
  • Nuneaton ILO
  • Redditch ILO
  • Rugby ILO
  • Shrewsbury ILO
  • Smethwick ILO
  • Stafford ILO
  • Stoke-on-Trent (North) ILO
  • Stoke-on-Trent (South) ILO
  • Telford ILO
  • Walsall (East) ILO
  • Walsall (West) ILO
  • Wellingborough ILO
  • West Bromwich ILO
  • Wolverhampton (North) ILO
  • Wolverhampton (South) ILO
  • Worcester ILO

Weather station—Aberporth

  • Aberystwyth ILO
  • Ammanford AO
  • Bridgend ILO
  • Carmarthen ILO
  • Dollgellau ILO
  • Haverfordwest ILO
  • Llanelli ILO
  • Morriston ILO
  • Neath ILO
  • Newtown ILO
  • Pembroke Dock ILO
  • Porthmadoc ILO
  • Port Talbot ILO
  • Swansea ILO

Weather station—Bournemouth

  • Andover ILO
  • Bournemouth ILO
  • Fareham ILO
  • Havant AO
  • New Forest ILO
  • Newport (IOW) ILO
  • Poole ILO
  • Portsmouth ILO
  • Salisbury ILO
  • Southampton ILO
  • Weymouth ILO
  • Winchester ILO
  • Yeovil ILO