§ Mr. FitzpatrickTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the oral statement by the Minister of State of 3 April 2000,Official Report, columns 624-25, on the state pension, if he will give a breakdown for the figure of £800 million. [118801]
§ Mr. DarlingThe information is in the table and shows an annual breakdown of the amount spent on Winter Fuel Payments and on earnings-uprating the MIG, over and above what the cost of earnings-uprating the basic state pension would have been.
Department. We will be writing to them in the next few weeks with a claim form for completion.Over a five week period starting in May, we will also be writing to over two million people, who we think are eligible, to invite them to make a claim. There is no need for anyone to do anything now.People who think they are eligible will also be able to download claim forms from the Department's own website, www.dss.gov.uk, or they will be able to obtain them, on request, from the Winter Fuel Payment helpline. The helpline number is 08459 15 15 15.A simultaneous national advertising campaign will be set in train to encourage those who think they are eligible, and who have not received a letter by mid-June, to contact the Department. Also, from June up to Christmas, information and advertising campaigns will be run to help ensure that people are fully aware of how to claim and when they will receive their payments. Arrangements for notifying representative bodies will be set in train so that they will be able to advise those who contact them for advice.