Winter Fuel Payments

(asked on 10th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential cost of amending annual Winter Fuel Payment letters to include a paragraph inviting recipients to donate their payment to a charitable cause.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 20th May 2019

Recipients of Winter Fuel Payments are free to use them in the way they choose, including donating them to a charity of their choice. There is evidence that some people choose to do this already.

Currently the Department cannot estimate the potential cost of this specific proposal, but is always open to suggestions from the chair of the WPSC. Digital reform of the Winter Fuel Payment Service is underway and will mean that from 2020/21 the Department could consider using newer technologies that may offer more flexibility over making improvements to the letters. As with the development of all digital services, user research will be an important factor in improving the letters to ensure they meet everyone’s needs, and in particular that the needs of vulnerable people are carefully considered.

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