Pensioners: Winter Fuel Payments
Work and Pensions
Written answers and statements, 5 November 2009
Danny Alexander (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the average percentage of pensioners' energy bills likely to be met by the winter fuel payment in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) the Highlands in 2009-10.
Angela Eagle (Minister of State (Pensions and the Ageing Society), Department for Work and Pensions; Wallasey, Labour)
It is estimated that the average percentage of pensioners' energy bills likely to be met by the winter fuel payment in 2009-10 in (a) the UK and Scotland, are as follows:
| UK | Scotland | |||
| Age 60 to 79 | Age 80 and over | Age 60 to 79 | Age 80 and over | |
| Winter Fuel Payment amounts (£) | 250 | 400 | 250 | 400 |
| Percentage of annual energy bill met by the Winter Fuel Payment | 24 | 41 | 23 | 38 |
| (c) The information requested is not available. Additional support is available through Cold Weather Payments for regions that suffer particularly cold weather. Notes: 1. The Family Spending Survey 2008 is used to determine household expenditure on fuel by age. 2. The difference in energy bills in Scotland and the UK, is calculated by looking at the percentage difference an average household spent on energy bills in 2007. 3. The fuel and light inflation rate, published by the ONS, is used to estimate the energy bills as at September 2009. 4. The Winter Fuel Payment figures include the additional payments for 2009-10. | ||||