HC Deb 25 January 1985 vol 71 cc560-2W
Mr. Home Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing how far the ambient temperature would have to fall in each Scottish region in the months of December, January and February in order to trigger special payments for pensioners under the severe weather allowances scheme.

Mr. Whitney

In addition to the regular weekly help with fuel costs available to supplementary benefit claimants, the regulations provide for single payments to be awarded to supplementary benefit claimants who have used more fuel than they have budgeted for because of a period of exceptionally severe weather. The basis on which such payments may be made is set out in my replies to my hon. Friends the Members for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) and for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) and the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 21 January at columns349–352.

The table lists for different areas of Scotland the "trigger points" — the points at which the Chief Adjudication Officer considers the "exceptionally severe weather" conditions in the regulations to be satisfied—grouped according to the seven weather stations used for Scotland. For each weather station the table shows the local social security offices in the area and the region(s) covered. The same trigger points apply throughout the year. The table also shows the average weekly temperature (the average of the mean daily temperatures over seven days) which would be needed to reach the trigger point.

Weather station Local social security offices Region 'Trigger point' (weekly total of degree days) Average weekly temperature necessary to reach 'trigger point' (ºC)
Aberdeen (Dyce) Aberdeen (North) ILO Grampian Region 129 -2.9
Aberdeen (South) ILO
Elgin ILO
Peterhead ILO
Boulmer Galashiels ILO — Border Region 122 -1.9
Carlisle Dumfries ILO Dumfries and Galloway Region 127 -2.6
Stranraer ILO
Glasgow Airdrie ILO Strathclyde Region 126 -2.5
Ayre ILO
Bellshill
Campbeltown ILO
Clydebank ILO
Coatbridge ILO
Cumbernauld ILO
Dumbarton ILO
East Kilbride ILO
Fort William ILO — Highland Region
Glasgow (Anniesland) ILO Strathclyde Region
Glasgow (Bridgeton) AO
Glasgow (City) ILO
Glasgow (Craigton) ILO
Glasgow (Cranston Hill) AO
Glasgow (Dalmarnock) ILO
Glasgow (Laurieston) ILO
Glasgow (Maryhill) ILO
Glasgow (Parkhead) ILO
Glasgow (Patrick) AO
Glasgow (Provan) ILO
Glasgow (Queen's Park) AO
Glasgow (Rutherglen) ILO
Glasgow (Southside) ILO
Glasgow (Springburn) AO
Greenock ILO Strathclyde Region
Hamilton ILO
Irvine ILO
Johnston ILO
Kilmarnock ILO
Motherwell ILO
Oban ILO
Paisley ILO
Port Glasgow ILO
Leuchars Abroath ILO — Tayside Region 122 -1.9
Bathgate ILO — Lothian Region
Cowdenbeath ILO — Fife Region
Dundee (East) ILO Tayside Region
Dundee (West) ILO
Dunfermline ILO — Fife Region
Edinburgh (City) ILO Lothian Region
Edinburgh (East) ILO
Edinburgh (North) ILO
Edinburgh (South) ILO
Edinburgh (West) ILO
Falkirk ILO — Central Region
Kirkcaldy ILO Lothian Region
Leven ILO
Perth ILO — Tayside Region
Stirling ILO — Central Region
Stornoway Stornoway ILO — Western Islands Region 111 —0.4
Wick Inverness ILO — Highland Region 119 —1.5
Lerwick ILO — Shetland Islands Region
Wick ILO — Highland Region
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.