Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to make payments of winter fuel allowance to those who qualify for such payments after the third Monday in September and before 1 January before the end of the same financial year.

The Qualifying Week for Winter Fuel Payment assessments is set at the third week of September to ensure that the maximum number of payments (over 95 per cent of eligible cases) are made automatically before Christmas, typically the coldest part of winter. Those that are not paid automatically are accepted as clerical claims up to the 31 March, and payment is issued as soon as possible. There are no plans to review the Qualifying Week.