Winter Fuel Payments (Hansard, 10 April 2001)

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what delays there have been in the payment of the 2000–01 Winter Fuel Payment. [157057]

§ Mr. Rooker
Over 11 million Winter Fuel Payments have been made so far. For both automatically processed cases and claims, payments were made before Christmas where entitlements were established by 9 November 2000.
We continue to process claims received after 9 November 2000. The timing of payments made depends on when people choose to send in their claims and whether they are completed correctly.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the monetary value of unclaimed Winter Fuel Payments by men aged 60–64 for the(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99 and (c) 1999–2000 winters. [157054]

§ Mr. Rooker
It is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the monetary value of unclaimed Winter Fuel Payments by men aged 60–64 in respect of winters 1997–98; 1998–99 and 1999–2000.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the monetary value of unclaimed 2000–01 Winter Fuel Payments by newly eligible men by 30 March. [157056]

§ Mr. Rooker
It is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the monetary value of unclaimed Winter Fuel Payments by newly eligible men in respect of winter 2000–01.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of men aged 60–64 who made an(a) successful and (b) unsuccessful claim for the (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99 and (iii) 1999–2000 Winter Fuel Payment. [157053]

§ Mr. Rooker
The administration of benefits is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, Alexis Cleveland. She will write to the hon. Member.
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Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 9 April 2001: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will estimate the number of men aged 60–64 that made an (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful claim for the 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/00 winter fuel payment. As of 3 April 2001, 1,046,020 claims for Winter Fuel Payments in respect of retrospective year's 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000 had been processed for males. Information relating solely to men aged 60–64 cannot be provided. The decisions made following the ruling by the European Court of Justice meant that the majority of people newly eligible would be men aged 60–64. However, people over state pension age but who had not received a Winter Fuel Payment before because they were not getting a qualifying benefit were also brought into the scheme. Current records show that we have received over 1 million claims in respect of past winters from men of which around 85,000 were unsuccessful, in the first instance. If a customer feels that the decision on their claim is incorrect they can ask for it to be looked at again. We do not hold statistics on successful claims following such reconsiderations. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Simon Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the average length of time is from the receipt of application for back-dated winter fuel allowance to be paid. [156343]

§ Mr. Rooker
This is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Simon Thomas, dated 10 April 2001: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average length of time is from the receipt of application for backdated winter fuel allowance to be paid. The average length of time taken to process a backdated claim from date of receipt to date of payment is not available. However, I can inform you that over 90% of claims for the financial years 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/00 have been processed without the need for further investigation. In these circumstances claims are paid within five weeks of receiving the application form. The remaining claims require further investigation and inevitably take longer to clear. Where only minimal investigation is required, claims may still be paid in five weeks. I hope this is helpful.