§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2002,Official Report, column 262W, ref 29706, on winter fuel payments, in what format such information is available. [32921]
§ Mr. McCartneyInformation relating to the number of winter fuel payments by age band is not available. The table shows the number of men, by local authority area, in Scotland who received a payment last year. The information is not available for earlier years, and the details for this winter are not yet available.
105W
Men in Scotland who received a winter fuel payment in 2000–01 by local authority area Number All 409,500 City of Aberdeen 15,620 Aberdeenshire 17,980 Angus 9,700 Argyll and Bute 7,840 Scottish Borders 9,860 Clackmannanshire 3,500 West Dumbartonshire 7,100 Dumfries and Galloway 14,000 City of Dundee 12,220 East Ayrshire 10,040 East Dumbartonshire 8,760 East Lothian 8,360 East Renfrewshire 8,000 City of Edinburgh 33,000 Falkirk 11,980 Fife 28,780 City of Glasgow 43,380 Highland 17,820 Inverclyde 7,340 Midlothian 6,680 Moray 8,020 North Ayrshire 10,680 North Lanarkshire 22,660 Orkney Islands 2,060 Perthshire and Kinross 13,380 Renfrewshire 14,160 Shetland Isles 1,800 South Ayrshire 10,120 South Lanarkshire 24,480 Stirling 7,300 West Lothian 10,520 Western Isles 2,360 Source:
WPF data based on 5 per cent. sample from Matching Intelligence Data Analysis Service, so subject to sampling error.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for each year since 1997,(a) how many and (b) what proportion of men aged between 60 and 64 years, who were not in receipt of a social security benefit, received a winter fuel payment. [33623]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe information is not available in the format requested. However, over 600,000 men who are not in receipt of a social security benefit received a winter fuel payment last year.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what methods and outlets were used in 2000–01 to publicise entitlement to winter fuel payments. [18986]
§ Mr. McCartneyWe have run information campaigns for both winter 2000 and winter 2001, to inform people aged 60 and over about winter fuel payments.
Activities include: press advertisements in national newspapers including titles in Scotland and Wales; a leaflet and poster; a dedicated winter fuel payment helpline and on-going information on the internet. We distributed leaflets and posters to a variety of venues including: local social security offices; post offices; people in caring and advisory roles; libraries; town halls; hospitals; supermarkets; bingo halls; fuel outlets; doctors' 106W surgeries; as well as from our orderline. We have worked successfully with a number of voluntary organisations who distributed our leaflets amongst their networks, including Age Concern, National Pensioners' Convention, Local Government Organisation and Citizens' Advice Bureaux. National and regional press releases were issued to highlight the winter fuel payment campaign to the press.
A mailshot was also undertaken in spring each year to people we could identify as being newly eligible for a winter fuel payment, and who would need to claim it, to inform them of the payment.