Written question asked by Teddy Taylor (Conservative) on Monday, 11 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 October 2004. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Thursday, 21 October 2004 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, why British residents in (a) Guadeloupe, (b) Martinique and (c) the Azores receive the winter fuel allowance; what the annual cost has been since 2002 of such payments; and what assessment the Government has made of temperature levels in these areas. - Inc figures.

Answer: Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions why British residents in (a) Guadeloupe, (b) Martinique and (c) the Azores receive the winter fuel allowance; what the annual cost has been since 2002 of such payments; and what assessment the Government have made of temperature levels in these areas. [190641] Malcolm Wicks: Guadeloupe and Martinique are overseas `De«partements' of France and the Azores is a Portuguese island. As such all are treated as constituents of the European Union. Eligible people living in these regions can continue to receive a winter fuel payment if they satisfy the qualifying criteria. We are not able to provide the annual cost of these payments as data are held on a national basis. For winter 2003-04 there were 3,797 payments made to eligible people living in France at a cost of £603,500 and 257 to eligible people living in Portugal at a cost of £42,500. No assessment has been made of temperature levels in these areas.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 425 c904W; 190641
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Costs Pensioners Overseas residence Weather Temperature Winter fuel payment Guadeloupe Azores Martinique
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk