Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received Winter Fuel Payment in winter (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 in (i) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (ii) Middlesbrough local authority area, (iii) Tees Valley combined authority area and (iv) the North East.

For winter 2023 to 2024:

- 15,487 pensioners received the Winter Fuel Payment in Middlesbrough and Thornby East Constituency;

- 22,849 received it in Middlesbrough local authority area;

- 127,568 received it in the Tees Valley combined authority area (21,251 in Darlington, 17,484 in Hartlepool, 22,849 in Middlesbrough, 30,049 in Redcar and Cleveland, and 35,935 in Stockton-on-Tees);

- and 517,592 received it in the North East.

This is based on Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

Data covering winter 2024 to 2025 is not yet available. The next release of Winter Fuel Payment statistics will cover this period and will be published on 16 September 2025.

The Government wants to ensure a wider range of pensioners in England and Wales receive Winter Fuel Payment in future, while recognising public finance constraints and the fact that making payments to the highest income pensioners is hard to justify.

From winter 2025-26, the vast majority of pensioners in England and Wales – over three quarters, or around 9 million individuals - will benefit from Winter Fuel Payments. They will be paid automatically to anyone who has not opted out. Individuals with a taxable income above £35,000 a year will have any WFP recouped via HMRC.