HC Deb 08 January 2001 vol 360 cc469-70W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many men who have become eligible for the winter fuel payments this year but are not due backdated payments have been notified of their entitlement. [143515]

Mr. Rooker

It is estimated that around 250,000 men who are not due payments for previous years could be eligible for winter fuel payments this winter.

Payments have already been issued to those where we have been able to establish a clear entitlement through the benefit computer system. However, the majority of this group will need to make a claim for their payment, but we cannot make them claim. An information campaign has been running since April which aims to ensure that people know what action they may need to take.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many men have become eligible for the winter fuel payments this year; how many have received it; and how many have not yet received it. [143514]

Mr. Rooker

An estimated 1.3 million men became eligible for winter fuel payments this winter since the equalisation of the age of eligibility and the removal of the qualifying benefit condition.

Payments have been issued to all those whose claims were determined by 9 November.

Mr. Drew

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the impact on an individual's ability to claim the winter fuel allowance of being in full-time employment after the age of 60 years. [143886]

Mr. Rooker

Following the European Court of Justice ruling on the case of Taylor, in December 1999, we decided to equalise the age—at 60—from which winter fuel payments could be made. If we had equalised the age at 65, around 1 million women would have missed out.

To enable payments to be made from age 60 it was also necessary to remove the need to be in receipt of state retirement pension. Therefore payments are made to those entitled regardless of whether they are getting a social security benefit or whether they are in employment.

An information campaign, which aims to ensure that those eligible know how and when to make a claim—if they choose to do so—has been running from April 2000.