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Cold Weather Payments

Question for Department for Work and Pensions

UIN 16025, tabled on 25 November 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households (a) are eligible and (b) have received Cold Weather Payments in 2024, broken down by week.

Answered on

28 November 2024

(a) Table 1 shows the number of estimated eligible qualifiers across 2024.

Table 1: Number of Estimated Eligible Recipients in England and Wales

Season (1st November-31st March)

Estimated Eligible Recipients (England and Wales)

2023/24

3,921,000

2024/25

4,116,000

Due to the nature of eligibility, we are unable to breakdown to the household level.

(b) Tables 2 and 3 show the breakdown of weekly payments made in 2024- these are from the 2023/24 season running from the 1st November 2023-31st March 2024 and the start of the 2024/25 season 1st-22nd November 2024.

Table 2: Payments made to estimated qualifiers in England and Wales, 2024- from the 2023/24 season.

Week Commencing

Triggers

Estimated Payments Made (England and Wales)

29 December 2023

0

0

5 January 2024

0

0

12 January 2024

3

11,000

19 January 2024

9

362,000

26 January 2024

5

204,000

2 February 2024

0

0

9 February 2024

0

0

16 February 2024

0

0

23 February 2024

0

0

1 March 2024

0

0

8 March 2024

0

0

15 March 2024

0

0

22 March 2024

0

0

29 March 2024

0

0

5 April 2024

0

0

Table 3: Payments made to Estimated Qualifiers in England and Wales so Far- from the 2024/25 season.

Week Commencing

Triggers

Estimated Payments Made (England and Wales)

1 November 2024

0

0

8 November 2024

0

0

15 November 2024

0

0

22 November 2024

3

6000

Please note-

1) Figures are estimated based on the number of individuals eligible at the start of the season. See the methodology document for further details,

and guidance on how to estimate the number of payments and expenditure, here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-estimates-2023-to-2024/background-and-methodology-cold-weather-payment-estimates-2023-to-2024

2) Figures are shown by the week or month the payment was triggered - that is, the day that the recorded/forecasted temperatures for the seven

day period caused payments to be authorised. The recipient should receive the payment within 14 days.

3) All volumes are rounded to the nearest 1,000

4) The figures include claimants meeting the legacy benefit and Universal Credit eligibility criteria for Cold Weather Payments.

Future publications for the 2024-25 Cold Weather Season can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-estimates-2024-to-2025

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