§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 31 January 2002,Official Report, column 418W, on winter fuel 1647W allowance, if the Department now has information about the reason why winter fuel allowance payments have been delayed for up to 28 days. [39771]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe overwhelming majority of winter fuel payments are made automatically, based on details already held by this Department. These payments were issued on a rolling programme throughout November and early December 2001 to ensure that payments were received before Christmas.
People who need to make a claim for winter 2001/02 have until 30 March 2002 to do so. Successful claims made prior to 24 September were paid at the same time as the automatic payments. Payments for claims received between 24 September and the March deadline are also made on a rolling basis, and our intention is to make all these payments by June. This payment process allows us to match claims in batches.
This means that there will be some delay between the receipt of claims and making the payments.