HC Deb 13 May 1976 vol 911 cc238-9W
Mr. Cartwright

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the present levels of additional payments available to recipients of supplementary benefit in respect of: (a) exceptional heating needs and (b) central heating charges: when these were last reviewed; and on what basis they are calculated.

Mr. Orme

Extra heating additions payable on grounds of ill-health or substandard accommodation, or a combination of both factors, are payable at one of three rates, namely 55p, £1.10 or £1.65 a week, on an all-the-year-round basis. These amounts have been reviewed by the Supplementary Benefits Commission and will be increased as from November to 70p, £1.40 and £2–10, respectively, at the same time as this year's uprating of benefits. They originally represented fixed proportions of expenditure by pensioner households on heating, derived from Family Expenditure Survey data, and have been adjusted periodically in the light of the movement in the fuel component of the retail prices index.

Except where a fixed charge is levied, central heating additions are payable according to the number of rooms as follows:

1 or 2 rooms 25p a week
3 or 4 rooms 55p a week
5 or more rooms £1.10 a week

These amounts were fixed after discussions with local fuel authorities and with the help of costings by heating engineers. They are being increased in November—on the same basis as ordinary heating additions—to 35p, 70p and £1.40, respectively.