1. the Total Number of Recipients of the Winter Fuel Allowance;

Dear Mr Jones

Freedom of Information ref: 2013-2107

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 6 May 2013.

You asked:

1. The total number of recipients of the winter fuel allowance;

2. The total number of recipients of the winter fuel allowance by Country and Region (region to include all sub-divisions of the country, where held, including but not limited to counties, states, regions, etc. This likely to be included in the recipients address). For example, this would include Spain as the Country and the Spanish regions (e.g., Costa del Sol, etc).

3. The total sum paid under both 1 and 2 above.

I would request that this information be supplied in Microsoft Excel or CSV format.

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act allows us to direct you to information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

The Department publishes a wide range of Winter Fuel Payment expenditureand caseload statistics on its website. You can access the requested information via the linksprovided below:

To access benefit expenditure and caseload statistics for Winter Fuel Payment go to: and select table 1a (Expenditure) and 1c (Caseload).

To access Winter Fuel Paymentexpenditure by Country, Region and Local Authority go to and select the WFP worksheet.

To access Winter Fuel Payment statistics on the number of payments made to eligible individuals living in European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland who qualified for a payment before leaving the UK; go to:

. Please note that information for payments outside the UK is not available below a country level.

Finally, you may also be interested to view statistics on the number and value of payments made to eligible individuals living in Great Britain(GB). These figures are broken down by Region, Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency:

If you have any queries about this letter please contact us quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team

Department for Work and Pensions

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Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act

If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team, Caxton House, Tothill Street, SW1H 9NA. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF