§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people aged 60 years and above are ineligible for the winter fuel payments because they(a) are in (i) residential care, (ii) nursing homes and (iii) local authority residential accommodation, (b) live abroad, (c) are in prison and (d) are in hospital. [120384]
382W
§ Angela EagleWinter Fuel Payments are provided to older people who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain to help towards their winter heating costs. Where someone is already receiving public assistance with their heating costs it is inappropriate for a Winter Fuel Payment to be made. For example, payments are inappropriate for people living permanently in residential care or nursing homes who also receive help through Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. It is also inappropriate for Winter Fuel Payments be made to people who do not contribute towards their heating costs, such as those serving a prison sentence or those who have been receiving free hospital in-patient treatment.
The estimated number of people aged 60 or over who were receiving public assistance during the winter of 1999 are set out by category:
Number Residential care homes 199,000 Nursing homes 20,000 Local Authority residential accommodation 6,000 Sentenced prisoners 900 Hospital in-patients 12,000 Note:
Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
All estimates are for November 1999 except the estimate for hospital in-patients which is for March 1999. It is not possible to estimate the number of people aged 60 or over who are ineligible for a Winter Fuel Payment because they live abroad, as we do not hold records for those among them who do not receive a social security benefit.