Friday, August 28, 2015

The Winter Fuel payment - What one must do now.


Mr Frank Field MP DL, Chairman of the Select Committee for Work and Pensions  has replied to me, and he says.....
The Committee has no plans, at present, to investigate the specific matter you raise but I am always open to suggestions from colleagues. Might I suggest, therefore, that any friends or relatives of yours living in the UK should ask their local MP to take up this matter in the House?

This seems encouraging – it is then absolutely necessary to persuade individual MPs to write to Mr. Field, and through him to the Select Committee, requesting the Committee to include in their investigations the issue of the unnecessary hardship to be caused by the selective withdrawal of the WFP in September.  Encourage Friends and Relatives resident in the UK to do so also, for the sake of those less fortunate than yourselves, and in the cause of fairness and honesty.


Suggested wording of a letter to your MP:
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To   XXXXX  MP.
Subject – WINTER FUEL PAYMENT.
Dear ------------------   I, as a constituent,  request that you write to Frank Field MP, Chairman of the Select Committee for Work & Pensions, on the basis of the following information:
From this September under the Statutory Instrument 3270 of  2014 introduced by Iain Duncan Smith as Secretary of State for the DWP, this benefit [WFP] is to be withdrawn from elderly British Citizens in 6 countries and one British dependency in the EU (below referred as 7 'countries').
The DWP is claiming that the withdrawal is justified by invoking a temperature check on these 7 'countries', in comparison with SW England but:
* There are many elderly British Citizens living in these 7 'countries' who are in need of the WFP.  Visit www.lefourquet.net/Hardup-dossier.doc  to read of some 17 of these citizens. It is apparent that they are discriminated against by the operation of SI 3270.
* 35 MPs signed the EDM 695 last year ‘praying’ that the SI 3270 be annulled. (11-Con- 12 Lab – 8 LD – 2 SNP – 1 Gr – 1 Ind.)
* There is evidence that these temperature checks have been falsely calculated, for example they include in the case of France, temperatures of Caribbean and Indian Ocean territories which are French possessions, but are not France. 
* It is further clear that the fact that winter temperatures in many districts of France and even Spain fall well below those in SW England.- Spain, Cyprus, Portugal (Estrela) and of course France. e.g. all have tourist ski resorts.
* Furthermore, winter temperatures in these countries all fall below that which require home heating to maintain health.

In addition, this is contrary to  EU Regulation 883/2004  ---- Article 7 which states:
Waiving of residence rules:
Unless otherwise provided for by this Regulation, cash benefits payable under the legislation of one or more Member States or under this Regulation shall not be subject to any reduction, amendment, suspension, withdrawal or confiscation on account of the fact that the beneficiary or the members of his family reside in a Member State other than that in which the institution responsible for providing benefits is situated.

Could you please write to Frank Field MP DL ..  within Parliament  requesting that the Select Committee for Work & Pensions considers in their investigations,  the hardship to be caused by selective withdrawal of the WFP from certain British pensioners resident within the EU in September.

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Please copy all the above between the lines of  ******* and send to your  MP.   You may of course add any extra material relating to yourself or your family and friends affected by this matter.
And as Frank Field MP suggests, encourage all your friends and relatives in the UK to do likewise.
 Find email and other addresses of MPs  here .... http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/