Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 26 March 2008.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of extending winter fuel payments to all those eligible for the cold weather payment.
Approximately £320 million a year.
Notes
1. Cold weather payment caseload extracted from Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey, 100 percent data.
2. Cold weather payments to people under age 60 are made to those awarded income support or income based jobseeker's allowance who have a disability premium or a child under age five. The caseload for these benefits can go up or down from month to month. This estimate is based on those meeting the cold weather payment eligibility as at May 2006.
3. This estimate is based upon the assumption that individuals now eligible for a winter fuel payment under the cold weather criteria do not live in the same household as any other individual eligible for a WFP (therefore they are awarded the full winter fuel payment).
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.