§ Mr. Charles KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many times the temperatures at(a) Loch Glascarnoch and (b) Aultbea monitoring stations have indicated levels entailing cold weather payments; and how many recipients have received such payments as a result. [10841]
256W
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe administration of the social fund 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. Charles Kennedy, dated 14 January 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many times the temperatures at (a) Loch Glascamoch and (b) Aultbea monitoring stations have indicated levels entailing Cold Weather Payments; and how many recipients have received such payments as a result.The weather station at Loch Glascarnoch has identified five periods of cold weather. No periods of cold weather have been identified by Aultbea Weather Station.Figures are not kept on how many people actually receive payments per weather station.However data on the estimated number of people who would qualify (qualifiers) is available, for each time a weather station identifies a period of cold weather. For Aultbea weather station the estimated number of qualifiers is 238 and for Loch Glascamoch the estimated number of qualifiers is 1,880. Therefore, an estimated 9,400 payments have been issued to those customers covered by Loch Glascamoch Weather Station.I hope you find this reply helpful.