Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of means-testing the winter fuel payment on the number of (a) flu, (b) Covid, (c) norovirus and (d) RSV cases.

An assessment of the potential impact of means-testing the winter fuel payment on the number of flu, COVID-19, norovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus cases has not been produced. The Government has taken action to ensure low-income households are protected this winter.