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Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the entitlement is to the Winter Fuel Payment; how many have received it in each year since its introduction; how much it has cost in public expenditure in each year; what percentage of this represents the cost of administration of the payment; and what his estimate is of the cost of the payment if it were to be restricted to those entitled to the pension credit. [106448] Mr. McCartney: Most people aged 60 and over who normally live in Great Britain are entitled to a Winter Fuel payment. From winter 2000-01, the payment has been either £200 or £100 depending on the composition and circumstances of the household. Information on the numbers of payments and total expenditure for each year from 1997-98 is set out in the following table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Great Britain Number in receipt (million) Expenditure (£ million cash) 1997-98 9.759 191 1998-99 9.953 194 1999-2000 10.084 759 2000-01 11.123 1,749 2001-02 11.202 1,692 2002-03 11.322 1,710 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Source: Departmental published estimates. Information on administrative costs is not currently available in the format requested. In accordance with the requirements of Resource Accounting and Budgeting the Department now accounts for its administration and benefit expenditure by Strategic Objective, as set out in its Public Service Agreements (PSA), and by individual Requests for Resources (RfRs), as set out in the Departmental Estimates and Accounts. If Winter Fuel Payments were restricted to entitled recipients of Pension Credit, we estimate the cost to be £750 million per year.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

106448; 402 c917W;402 c915-6W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Administration Costs Eligibility Expenditure Public expenditure Take-up Winter fuel payment

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk