§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners have benefited from a winter fuel payment this winter; and how many times the weather conditions activated a payment to be made for(a) Gordon constituency, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Scotland. [111490]
§ Mr. RookerThe hon. Member will be aware that Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments are different benefits. As the administration of benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, he will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 22 February 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking how many pensioners have benefited from a winter fuel payment this winter; and how many times the weather conditions activated a payment to be made for (a) Gordon constituency, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Scotland.Winter fuel payments were introduced in the winter of 1997/98 for an initial two years. The Government subsequently decided to continue the scheme, and in addition, increased the amount of the payment to £100 for every eligible household. Delivery of this winter's payments was broadly similar to the last two winters, other than the payments were made before the new year, with the Generalised Matching Service being used to compare addresses to determine whether £50 or £100 was payable to eligible non Income Support/Income based Jobseekers Allowance pensioners. Eligibility is not determined by the severity of the weather conditions.Where official records showed more than one eligible pensioner as living at an address, each received £50. Other eligible pensioners received £100. Determining the correct amount of payment involved the cross matching of around 13 million records on 8 benefit systems.
Weather Stations Weather station Dates Estimated qualifiers Districts affected Aviemore 12 December 1999–18 December 1999F 929 Grampian and Shetlands, Highlands and Islands,Tayside 19 December 1999–25 December 1999F — — Braemar 12 December 1999–18 December 1999F 54 Grampian and Shetlands 19 December 1999–25 December 1999F — — 27 December 1999–2 January 2000 — — Eskdalemuir 15 December 1999–21 December 1999F 3,723 East Edinburgh and Borders, North Cumbria, South West Scotland Loch Glascarnoch 12 December 1999–18 December 1999F 430 Highlands and Islands 19 December 1999–25 December 1999F — — 14 February 2000–2 February 2000R — — Salsburgh 18 December 1999–24 December 1999F 10,884 East Edinburgh & Borders, Glasgow South, Lanarkshire Tulloch Bridge 15 December 1999–21 December 1999F 1,968 Argyll and West, Highlands and Islands, Tayside F —forecast R —recorded 168W
Total payments this winter so far (by district and cold weather period) District CWP period payment run (week ending) Automated payments (£) Number of payments Argyll and West 17 December 1999 620.50 73 East Edinburgh and Borders 17 December 1999 21,250.00 2,500 23 December 1999 3,799.50 447 Glasgow South 23 December 1999 2,924.00 344 Grampian and Shetlands 17 December 1999 4,284.00 504 23 December 1999 4,275.50 503 6 January 2000 450.50 53 In Great Britain a total of 10.2 million pensioners in over 7.5 million households received a Winter Fuel Payment. In Scotland 905,638 pensioners received a payment. The Benefits Agency does not keep statistics in exactly the format you require. However, according to available information the constituencies in Aberdeenshire are Banff & Buchan, Gordon, Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South and West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine, though their boundaries may not exactly match. The attached table shows payments issued to customers in each of the constituencies.
Cold Weather Payments (CWP) are however dependent on the severity of the weather and are paid to people in receipt of Income Support or Income-based Jobseekers' Allowance who have a pensioner or disability premium, or a child under 5 in the household. A CWP is currently £8.50. No separate claim is needed for a CWP.
CWPs are triggered if the temperature has been recorded as an average of 0°C or below over any seven consecutive days, or a forecast shows the temperature is likely to average 0°C or below oever the next seven days, for a weather station area. The payment process can start without awaiting actual recorded temperatures. Payments are not recalled if a forecast is not confirmed by recorded data.
Again BA does not keep information in the format requested but we are able to provide numbers of estimated qualifiers by weather station (and linked postcodes), and actual payments by BA Districts.
Because of the way in which information is held in respect of Cold Weather Payments, we are unable to identify pensioners as a specific group. Therefore, any information provided refers to all customers, i.e. people who are entitled to IS or JSA(IB) for one day in the period of cold weather, and who receive one of the qualifying premiums (Pensioner, Higher Pensioners, Enhanced Pensioner, Disability, Severe Disability, Disabled Child), or, an amount for a dependent child under five.
So far this winter, periods of cold weather have been declared and payments made as shown in the attached tables.
I hope this is helpful.
169W
Total payments this winter so far (by district and cold weather period) District CWP period payment run (week ending) Automated payments (£) Number of payments District CWP period payment run (week ending) Automated payments (£) Number of payments Highlands and Islands 17 December 1999 14,441.50 1,699 23 December 1999 4,088.50 481 Lanarkshire 17 December 1999 2,014.50 237 23 December 1999 79,288.00 9,328 North Cumbria 17 December 1999 17.00 2 South West Scotland 17 December 1999 7,089.00 834 Tayside 17 December 1999 8,806.00 1,036 23 December 1999 178.50 21 Note:
Total automated payments are noted. We do not yet have total clerical payments. The latest trigger at Loch Glascamoch in not included.
Winter fuel payments issued-Period of time Winter 1999–00 Constituency Number of payments made Banff and Buchan 12,178 Gordon 11,945 Aberdeen Central 11,041 Aberdeen North 10,627 Aberdeen South 13,970 West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 11,245