§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what progress has been made in discussions with the European Commission about the extent of the UK's legal obligations under European regulations on winter fuel payments; and if he will make a statement; [39988]
(2) what plans his Department has to pay winter fuel allowance to British pensioners living abroad. [27598]
960W
§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 4 March 2002]: Department officials met recently with officials from the European Commission, and as a result of that we expect to bring this matter to a close shortly.
§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department plans to spend on(a) winter fuel payments and (b) Warm Front plus grants in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03. [37640]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe estimated cost of winter fuel payments for 2001–02 and 2002–03 is around £1.7 billion for each year.
Warm Front plus grants are a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, I understand that the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) is now marketed as the Warm Front Team and that for the period April 2001 to January 2002, over £73 million was spent on HEES plus grants. The expected HEES plus spend for the remainder of 2001–02 is almost£8 million. For the 2002–03 financial year, it is estimated that the spend on HEES plus will be in the region of £50 million.