HC Deb 28 February 1984 vol 55 c162W
71. Mrs. Currie

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in what ways his Department is helping the elderly with their heating bills.

Dr. Boyson

Since the Conservative Government came into office in 1979, the real value of supplementary benefit, the safety net for the worst off, has more than kept pace with increase in the cost of living. Heating additions given to supplementary benefit claimants, including 90 per cent. of supplementary pensioners, who need extra warmth because of ill health or whose homes are expensive to heat, have increased by about 140 per cent. since November 1978 compared with an increase of about 100 per cent. in fuel prices. In addition to the 90 per cent. grants available to them for loft insulation under the Department of the Environment's homes insulation scheme, supplementary pensioners with less than £500 savings are also entitled to payments for draught-proofing materials and insulating jackets for hot water tanks so that they can conserve energy.