Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria for winter fuel payments to include people with a terminal illness.

Winter fuel payments are a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, although the Department for Communities there maintains parity with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Winter fuel payments are made to people who have reached State Pension age and meet the relevant residence criteria in the third week of September each year. There are no plans to change these eligibility criteria. This winter, as last, the payments include the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment of £300 on top of the usual rate of £200 for a pensioner household with someone aged under 80, and £300 for households with someone aged 80 or over.

More broadly, the Department is committed to supporting people with a terminal illness. The Special Rules for End of Life enable people with a terminal illness to get faster, easier access to certain benefits without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods; and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.

For many years, the Special Rules for End of Life have applied to people who have six months or less to live, and now they have been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live. Changes to these rules means that thousands of people nearing the end of life will be able to claim fast-tracked financial support from the benefits system six months earlier than they were able to previously.