HC Deb 09 February 2004 vol 417 cc1142-3W
Norman Lamb

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioners entitled to the winter fuel payment in (a) Norfolk and (b) Great Britain had received the payment by (i) 1 January and (ii) 20 January; and if he will make a statement. [153033]

Malcolm Wicks

It is not possible to provide payment figures separately for Norfolk. Neither can we provide an estimate of the percentage of eligible people in receipt of a winter fuel payment using DWP administrative data because we do not have complete information on household circumstances and payments are based on household composition.

By 1 January 11,570,389 winter fuel payments had been made in Great Britain for winter 2003–04. This figure had not changed at 20 January.