Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide facilities for those in receipt of (1) the Winter Fuel Allowance, and (2) the Christmas bonus, to convert such payments into charitable donations to NHS hospital charities.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Recipients of Winter Fuel Payments and Christmas Bonuses are free to decide how to spend them. I am aware that a number of charities ask for customers to donate their payments to assist others and if a customer wishes to make such a donation they are free to do so.
In most cases the Christmas Bonus and Winter Fuel Payment are paid automatically with whichever qualifying benefit an individual receives, which ensures administration costs are kept to a minimum. Introducing a process that would allow customers to convert either the Winter Fuel Payment or Christmas bonus into a charitable donation would introduce complexity and cost into the system.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pensioners received the £10 Christmas Bonus in 2016.
Answered by Lord Henley
12,467,000 pensioners in Great Britain received the Christmas bonus in 2015/16, the latest year for which figures are currently available.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the need of pensioners who are taxpayers for the £10 Christmas Bonus.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Christmas Bonus is paid to both pensioners and working age people who are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits, it is not just an old age benefit. Recipients include some of the most vulnerable members of society. In most cases the bonus is paid automatically with whichever qualifying benefit an individual receives, which ensures administration costs are kept to a minimum. The Government remains committed to helping both pensioners and others who receive these payments.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the £10 Christmas Bonus scheme costs to administer.
Answered by Lord Henley
Both Pensioners and working age people in receipt of certain benefits receive the Christmas Bonus. Christmas Bonus payments are usually automatically generated based on receipt of a qualifying benefit. The cost of doing this is not separately identifiable from the administrative costs of the qualifying benefits.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the purpose of the £10 Christmas Bonus; and what assessment they have made of the extent to which that purpose is being achieved.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Christmas Bonus was introduced as a simple one-off tax-free lump sum payment, paid to pensioners and working age people in receipt of certain qualifying benefits. Recipients include some of the most vulnerable members of society. The Government remains committed to helping both pensioners and others who receive these payments.