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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY SENATOR B.E. SHENTON
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 5th JUNE 2007
Question
As part of the Strategic Plan and Annual Business Plan 2007 the States charged the Minister to introduce a new winter fuel payment for pensioners in 2007. Would he advise whether he is likely to be successful in achieving this goal?
Answer
The Council of Ministers will shortly be lodging a report and proposition proposing a Winter Fuel component within the Income Support scheme. As originally planned, Income Support was to be introduced in August 2007 and thereby the Winter Fuel system' would have been introduced at that time. With the movement of implementation of the Income Support scheme to January 2008, access to payment for additional Winter Fuel costs will commence in January 2008, should the States approve the Income Support scheme and Winter Fuel proposition.
However, provision is to be built into the Income Support scheme to allow retrospective winter fuel payments for the months of November and December of 2007 to those eligible within the Income Support scheme in January 2008 if those months turn out to be cold enough for payment to be triggered had the system been in place for those months.
To this extent therefore, additional costs of heating for those eligible will be secured for the whole of the upcoming winter.