Clause 3 - Entitlement: special cases
Age-Related Payments Bill
10:00 am
Mr Malcolm Wicks (Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions; Croydon North, Labour)
The clause is about special cases and deals with the less straightforward conditions under which a person would be eligible for payment. Those conditions are that each qualifying member of a couple will be entitled to a £50 payment if they live in the same household as another qualifying couple or couples, and if none receives an income-related benefit. If only one member of a couple qualifies, a £50 payment, rather than the full £100 household payment, will be made for that qualifying individual, and the same will happen for the other qualifying couple.
On Second Reading, the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) asked why we treated couples living together in this way. The payment is made to households; where two or more couples share a household, it is right that they should be treated individually, in the same way as single people who share their accommodation with others. If a couple both qualify for the payment and are receiving pension credit, the one who receives a winter fuel payment will be entitled to the payment. They will be treated as one unit.
A person living in a care home, and who has been there for the 12 weeks prior to the relevant week, will be entitled to a £50 payment if they are not receiving pension credit. There will be no entitlement if they are receiving pension credit. On Second Reading, I was asked why we were using the 13-week cut-off date for people in care homes. It mirrors the provision for care home residence in the winter fuel payments. If someone is in a care home for a minimum of 13 weeks, it is fair to draw the inference that their stay is other than a temporary arrangement. In essence, the care home has become their home. The conditions follow principles applied to winter fuel payments, with which the payments will be made, to ensure fairness and smooth administration.