Cold weather payment problems highlighted in Parliament

A Fife MP has highlighted apparent flaws in the system for triggering cold weather payments in the House of Commons.

Peter Grant, SNP MP for Glenrothes and Central Fife, raised his constituents’ complaints about the set-up after it emerged they were not entitled to payouts, despite the recent extreme weather which saw all of the region’s schools closed and left many people snowed-in.

Many people in the Glenrothes area lost out because of a postcode lottery under which entitlement to cold weather payments for residents in KY6, KY7 and KY8 postcodes depends not on the temperature in any of those areas but on the temperature at a weather station in Leuchars – some 20 miles away from Glenrothes.

Leuchars, as well is being near the coast, is roughly 50ft above sea level while parts of Glenrothes are about 600ft above.

“Constituents of mine in most of my constituency were astonished to discover that it wasn’t cold enough to trigger the payments during a week in which they were under two to three feet of snow, travel of any kind was impossible and they were subject to Scotland’s first red alert due to the danger from snow and ice,” Mr Grant said.

The MP has raised the issue with UK Government minister Andrew Leadsom and has also written to Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.

In the letter, Mr Grant has asked that when the next review of weather stations takes place, considerations can be made for the KY6, KY7 and KY8 postcode areas so they are never again denied financial support given to others.