Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in (a) Wolverhampton local authority area and (b) Wolverhampton North East constituency; how many Cold Weather Payments have been issued to people in each of those areas; and how many people have benefitted from the Warm Home Discount Scheme in each of those areas.

The table below provided by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shows the number and proportion of households living in fuel poverty in Wolverhampton Local Authority area and Wolverhampton North East constituency for the latest data available (2015).

Household figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

The Cold Weather Payment scheme is administered at weather station level rather than any other standard GB geography such as constituency level. The coverage area for each weather station is determined by the Met Office which assesses the most appropriate weather station for each postcode area. Cold weather payments are triggered when the average temperature recorded at the weather station has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0^oC or below over seven consecutive days, during the Cold Weather season (November to March).

The Wolverhampton local authority area covers all or part of the following postcode areas: WV1-4, WV6, WV8-14. The constituency of Wolverhampton North East covers all or part of the following postcode areas: WV 1-4, WV 7-9, WV 10-13.

All of the above postcode areas are covered by the Coleshill weather station. Qualifying individuals living in this area will have received a payment in respect of a seven-day period of Cold Weather from 24^th February – 2^nd March 2018. No other payments have been triggered in the Coleshill weather station area in the current Cold Weather season.

Coleshill weather station covers the following postcode areas: B1-21, B23-38, B40, B42-50, B60-80, B90-98, CV1-12, CV21-23, CV31-35, CV37, CV47, DY1-14, LE10, WS1-15, WV1-16. We estimate that 289,000 payments were made in this area as a whole in respect of the trigger on 24^th February. We are not able to break this figure down to a lower level.

Notes

1. The number of payments given here is an estimate as information on the exact number of payments made is not readily available. These figures are produced by determining the volume of eligible recipients in each weather station area at the start of the winter season and using these figures throughout the winter to estimate payments and expenditure based on the actual triggers recorded.

2. The number of payments made is not necessarily the total number of individuals benefitting from a Cold Weather Payment. Any individuals making a joint claim for one of the qualifying benefits, such as a couple living together, will receive one payment between them rather than one payment each.

3. Estimates of Cold Weather Payments are published weekly during the Cold Weather season. The latest published estimates can be found at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-statistics-2017-to-2018

The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy do not hold data on Warm Home Discount recipients at Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency level.