Written question asked by George Stevenson (Labour) on Thursday, 6 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 November 2003. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Monday, 17 November 2003 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Dept for Work and Pensions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who were newly entitled to the winter fuel payment in 2003-04 in (a) North Staffordshire, (b) Stoke-on-Trent and (c) the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency; how many people newly entitled to the winter fuel payment in 2003-04 claimed in (a) North Staffordshire, (b) Stoke-on-Trent and (c) Stoke-on-Trent South constituency. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people who were newly entitled to the winter fuel payment in 2003-04 in (a) North Staffordshire, (b) Stoke-on-Trent and (c) the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency; [137775] (2) how many people newly entitled to the winter fuel payment in 2003-04 claimed in (a) North Staffordshire, (b) Stoke-on-Trent and (c) Stoke-on-Trent South constituency. [137776] Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However, for the parliamentary constituencies of Stoke-on-Trent South, North and Central 3,911 winter fuel payment claim forms were issued to people who need to claim a payment for this winter. Of those 2,483 have submitted their claim forms. We are publicising the availability of winter fuel payments and how to obtain a claim form. Those who need to claim for this winter have until 30 March 2004 to do so. Note: Information to identify those likely to be entitled was extracted from the Departmental Central Index based on postcodes.

Secondary information