Written question asked by Peter Ainsworth (Conservative) on Monday, 8 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 February 2010. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 22 February 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Winter Fuel Payments

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate she has made of the proportion of recipients of the winter fuel payment who were (a) in fuel poverty when they received those payments and (b) no longer in fuel poverty as a result of having received those payments in each year since the implementation of the winter fuel payment scheme; and if she will make a statement;

Answer: The information requested is not available.Identifying those in fuel poverty is very difficult; however we know that the main contributing factors are energy efficiency of homes, energy prices and household income.Both winter fuel and cold weather payments contribute to vulnerable households' incomes and provide reassurance that money will be available to contribute towards fuel bills. These payments form only part of a package of measures that the Government have put in place to tackle fuel poverty.It is estimated that winter fuel payments help to keep around 200,000 households out of fuel poverty each year in the UK.

Secondary information