Pensioners out of pocket for cold weather payments

THOUSANDS of pensioners will get a fairer deal on cold weather payments this winter, but not if they live in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle.

Until now, cold weather payments have only been issued to pensioners in North Staffordshire when the climate drops below zero at a weather station in Shropshire.

For years, MPs, including Stone MP Bill Cash, pictured,  have argued the Staffordshire winter can be harsher than Shropshire’s, so pensioners haven’t received enough cash for extra heating bills.

From this winter, the Government has agreed to use data from a weather station near Leek before deciding whether cold weather payments are needed.

Moorlands MP Charlotte Atkins said: “It is right that the Government have recognised what I have been saying to them. – that we need to have a local weather station that reflects what the real weather is.

“A weather station in Shropshire does not reflect the local weather.

“If you look at the micro-climate in the Moorlands, Biddulph can be totally different from Leek,  I know because I live in Leek and my constituency office is in Biddulph.”

“I am glad we will now have data on a proper climate for the Moorlands.”

Cold weather payments of £25 are automatically paid to people in receipt of certain benefits, mainly pensioners and severely disabled people, when an area’s average temperature falls or is predicted to fall to 0°C   or below for seven consecutive days.

Last year 130,400 cold weather payments were made to pensioners in Staffordshire, using after two cold snaps shown in data provided from the weather station at Shawbury.

Met Office statistics show  the weather in Staffordshire is consistently colder than in Shropshire.

Now, anyone living in Leek, Cheadle, or anywhere else with a postcode of ST9, ST10, or ST13 will benefit from the new data.

However, according to the Department of Work and Pensions, everyone living in postcode areas ST1 to ST8, which includes Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle,  or ST11 and ST12, will remain covered by the weather station at Shawbury, near Shrewsbury.

That outpost is about 38 miles away from Leek and 30 miles from the centre of Stoke-on-Trent. Leek is less than 10 miles away from the centre of Stoke-on-Trent.

Last month, average temperatures recorded at Leek were 10.1°C, while in Shawbury, it was 11.2°C.

In December last year, mean temperatures in Shropshire were 3.5°C, while the Staffordshire weather was again colder, at 2.2°C.

And consistently, throughout the winter months, the weather was colder at Leek than at Shawbury.

Last November saw maximum temperatures of 7.6°C  in Leek, while the coldest was 3.4°C. In December temperatures fell to as low as 0°C, January hit 0.4°C and February, 0.5°C.

By contrast, November in Shropshire saw a far milder maximum temperature of 9.5°C   and a minimum temperature of 4°C. December fell to  a lowest temperature of 0.4°C. The coldest day in January was actually colder than in Leek at 0.6°C, but in February the Shropshire climate didn’t fall below 1.5°C.

The weather station in Leek, at Thorncliffe, is 298 metres above sea level while the Shawbury site is 72 metres above sea level. The height above the Earth’s surface relates to air pressure – one of the most important factors in determining weather. that determines what the weather is like.

MP Helen Goodman, the Government’s Junior Work and Pensions Minister, said: “For winter 2009-10 nine new weather stations will be included as part of the scheme.

“The changes are expected to either have a neutral effect or indeed provide a more accurate assessment for those eligible.”

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions, said: “Following representations from several MPs, including Bill Cash, the weather station at Leek will now be used to indicate when cold weather payments should be made.”

Andy Day, of the North Staffordshire Pensioners’ Convention, said: “Anything that gives a more accurate reading is better.“In general terms, Cold weather payments are a good thing, but people should have the income from their basic state pension to be able to exist perfectly well without them. We would welcome a much more beneficial pension.”

Andrew Montgomery, who lives in Ashbourne Road in Leek, welcomed the changes. The 79-year-old said: “If the readings are going to be taken locally it’s going to be better for pensioners in the Moorlands, because the data will be more accurate.”