§ Mr. PriorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of those entitled to the £100 winter fuel payment to pensioners have received it. [110341]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of benefits 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 Prior, dated 15 February 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking what proportion of those pensioners entitled to a £100 Winter Fuel Payment have now received it.I can now advise that of the 5,313,477 customers across all benefits identified as entitled to a £100 Winter Fuel Payment, 98% have now received their entitlement. The remaining 2% are those payments which have not been collected from the Post Office and which have been returned to the Benefit Agency (BA). They are returned for security reasons so that BA can investigate why it has not been collected by the intended recipient and determine whether any payment should be made.I hope this is helpful.