Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts
Wednesday 16th January 2013

(11 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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This Government have given the biggest increase in the basic state pension—an increase of £5.30 a week last year. We have kept the winter fuel payments, we have kept the cold weather payments at the higher level and we are replacing the Warm Front scheme with the energy company obligation, or ECO. Although the Warm Front scheme helped some 80,000 houses a year, the ECO could help up to 230,000 houses a year. That is what we are doing, that is how we are helping old people, and it is a record we should be proud of.

Dan Jarvis Portrait Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)
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Q14. The Prime Minister should know that the Office for National Statistics recently released figures that showed 24,000—24,000—extra cold weather deaths over the winter of 2011-12. The majority of those who perished were over the age of 75. Does the Prime Minister think that his Government should do more to help the elderly and the vulnerable and less to help millionaires through tax cuts?