Winter Fuel Payments

HC Deb 08 April 1998 vol 310 cc378-82W

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what steps the Government are taking to maximise take-up by eligible pensioner households of winter fuel payments; [36474]

(2) what estimate he has made of the proportion of pensioner households which will take up their entitlement to winter fuel payments. [36470]

Mr. Denham

Winter Fuel Payments are paid automatically without the need to claim, therefore take up is not an issue. Almost 10 million eligible pensioners, in over seven million households, have been identified from Departmental records. Each of these eligible pensioners should now have received a payment, at a total cost of around £200 million.

The award letter which accompanies the payment clearly explains the entitlement conditions and informs anyone who receives a £10 payment, but satisfies the conditions for a £20 payment, to contact the Benefits Agency Office which deals with their pension, or to telephone the Winter Fuel Payment Helpline, and request the balance. Requests for a review of the original decision to pay £10 are being dealt with as a matter of priority.

Similarly, where someone believes that they are entitled to a payment, but have not received one, they are advised in the Winter Fuel payment leaflet "Some extra layers to help keep pensioners warm this winter" to contact their local benefits Agency office to check. They may also contact the Winter Fuel Payment Helpline.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) for what reasons Dr. and Mrs. Michael Norris of Broom Knolls, Lawford, Manningtree, Essex, were paid two winter fuel payments; and if she will make a statement; [35383]

(2) how many households have received winter fuel payments in excess of their entitlement; and what measures are being taken to recover excess payments. [35384]

Mr. Denham

Winter Fuel payments are one of a number of initiatives the Government have taken to help vulnerable people, especially the elderly, keep warm in winter. A total of £400 million has been committed for this winter and next, to help pensioners with fuel bills to a pay. This is the first time any Government have provided additional help with heating costs to all pensioners receiving a Retirement Pension or one of a number of other qualifying benefits.

The making of this winter's payments has been an enormous and unprecedented exercise. In order to establish all eligible pensioners, correctly identify pensioner households, and determine the amount each should receive, it was necessary to correlate data in around 15 million computer records, involving 15 qualifying benefits, across nine computer systems. Overall, almost ten million payments will have been made to over seven million pensioner households by the end of March.

The administration of winter fuel payments 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. Bernard Jenkin, dated 8 April 1998: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent parliamentary questions asking for what reasons Dr. and Mrs. Michael Norris of Broom Knolls, Lawford, Manningtree, Essex, were paid two winter fuel payments; and how many households have received winter fuel payments in excess of their entitlement; and what measures are being taken to recover excess payments. The making of almost ten million winter fuel payments to over seven million pensioner households before the end of March 1998 has been a challenging task for the Benefits Agency. This will have been achieved whilst maintaining normal benefit business. Around one and a half million of the poorest pensioners, those receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, received their payment of £50 during January. Other eligible pensioners are entitled to a payment of £20 or £10. Where they live alone, are the only eligible pensioner in a household, or are of no fixed abode, they are entitled to £20; otherwise, they are entitled to £10. In order to establish other eligible pensioners, correctly identify pensioner households, and determine the amount each should receive, it was necessary to match around fifteen million computer records, involving fifteen qualifying benefits, across nine computer systems. Where only one eligible person was identified as living at an address a payment of £20 was made. Where more than one eligible person was identified as living at an address a payment of £10 was made. Where official Departmental records are not correct or incomplete, it is possible that the amount of some payments may not correspond with the actual circumstances. For example, where two eligible pensioners live at the same address but in separate households. In such cases, each eligible person will have been sent a payment of £10 when they should have received £20. The award letter which accompanies the payment clearly explains the entitlement conditions and informs anyone who receives a £10 payment, but satisfies the conditions for a £20 payment, to contact the Benefits Agency Office which deals with their pension, or to telephone the Winter Fuel Helpline, and request the balance. Requests for a review of the original decision to pay £10 are being dealt with as a matter of priority. Where two eligible pensioners live at the same address and in the same household, but the address details held on the relevant benefit computer records are incorrect or incomplete for either or both of them, the matching exercise may not identify more than one eligible person at the address recorded. In accordance with the provisions of the legislation each are entitled to a payment of £20. There is no overprovision in such instances, but any voluntarily offer to repay any amount would be accepted. When an erroneous payment has been made or payment issued for an incorrect amount, appropriate action will be taken regarding the excess/over payment. In the case to which you refer, we have not been able to identify the couple named. However, we have identified two people with a similar name to those given who were not identified as living at the same address in the matching process due to differences on their computer records. We have no record of making any payments to the named persons you have asked about, but I will investigate further and reply separately on this matter. So far, fewer than 10,000 of the £50 payments made during January have been identified as being incorrectly made. I am unable at present to provide you with information which takes into account payments of £20 or £10 made incorrectly. This is due to the fact that these payments are still in the process of being issued. It is anticipated that this information will be available some time after the end of April. I will provide the information on excess entitlement once it is available. Thank you for the opportunity to explain the position.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner couples erroneously received two cold weather payments; and how many have repaid the extra amount. [37838]

Mr. Denham

Winter Fuel payments are one of a number of initiatives the Government have taken to help vulnerable people, especially the elderly, keep warm in the winter. A total of £400 million has been committed for two years (1997–98 and 1998–99), to help pensioners with fuel bills to pay. This is the first time any Government have provided additional help with heating costs to all pensioners living in the United Kingdom who receive a retirement pension or one of a number of other qualifying benefits.

The making of this year's payments has been an enormous and unprecedented exercise. In order to establish all eligible pensioners, correctly identify pensioner households, and determine the amount each should receive, it was necessary to correlate data in around 15 million computer records, involving 15 qualifying benefits, across nine computer systems. Overall, almost ten million pensioners, in over seven million households, have received a payment.

The administration of winter fuel payments 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. David Heathcoat-Amory, dated 8 April 1998: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recently parliamentary question asking how many pensioner couples erroneously received two cold weather payments; and how many have repaid the extra amount. The making of winter fuel payments to almost ten million eligible pensioners, in over seven million households, before the end of March 1998 has been a challenging task for the Benefits Agency. This will have been achieved whilst maintaining normal benefit business. Around one and half million of the poorest pensioners, those receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, received their payment of £50 during January. Other eligible pensioners are entitled to a payment of £20 or £10. Where they live alone, are the only eligible pensioner in a household, or are of no fixed abode, they are entitled to £20; otherwise, they are entitled to £10, including each person in a pensioner couple if they are both in receipt of a qualifying benefit. In order to establish other eligible pensioners, correctly identify pensioner households, and determine the amount each should receive, it was necessary to correlate data in around fifteen million computer records, involving fifteen qualifying benefits, across nine computer systems. Where only one eligible person was identified as living at an address, a payment of £20 was made. Where more than one eligible person was identified as living at an address a payment of £10 was made. Where official Departmental records are incorrect or incomplete, it is possible that some payments may not correspond with actual circumstances. For example, there are cases where two eligible pensioners live at the same address and in the same household, but the address details held on the relevant benefit computer records are incorrect or incomplete for either or both of them. In such cases, the data correlation exercise may not have identified more than one eligible person at an address and, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation, each are entitled to a payment of £20. There is no overprovision in such instances, but any voluntarily offer to repay any amount would be accepted. When an erroneous payment has been made or payment issued for an incorrect amount due to fraudulent intent, recovery of the excess/over payment will be considered. I am unable, at present, to provide you with information on the number of incorrect payments and will write to you again once it is available. Thank you for the opportunity to explain the position.