Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in North West Norfolk constituency will be affected by the change in eligibility requirement for Winter Fuel Allowance.

To be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payment statistics, the Pension Credit data that has been used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024.

It is estimated that around 21,700 pensioners in North West Norfolk constituency (2010 boundary) will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in North West Norfolk constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in North West Norfolk constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or Local Authorities.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher. This means that the number of pensioners eligible for Winter Fuel Payment will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.