The Government has admitted that some pensioners will have to wait until the end of March to receive the extra winter fuel money that the Chancellor Gordon Brown promised them in November.

Mr Brown announced then that for this winter and next, every pensioner household would get £20 extra, and every such household on income support £50 extra, to help with fuel bills.

The cost is being met from reallocating £380 million savings on UK contributions to the EU budget and Mr Brown said the money would be paid in time to meet winter fuel bills.

But Whitehall sources are denying a report that there was a delay because of problems drawing up the scheme, saying that making payments to some 10 million people was a "huge and complex" operation.

An article in the News of the World said up to 8.5 million pensioners would not get their promised £20 per household in time for their first winter fuel bills, due to land on doormats soon.

It quoted a Tory spokesman saying: "This will be a bitter disappointment to millions."

Whitehall sources confirmed the payments would not be complete until the end of March, but stressed the poorest 1.5 million pensioners, on income support, will get their promised £50 by the end of this month.

A Social Security Department spokesman said details of how the payments would be made would be announced this week.

Sources added that there had never previously been such payments, and to make them all between the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement at the end of November and the end of March was good going.

They said consumers were also gaining from the cut in VAT on fuel and would receive cold weather payments if the temperature dropped below zero for seven days.

Mr Brown also announced in November that £15 million would go towards pilot projects to improve benefit take-up by pensioners, as ministers believe about a million who are eligible for income support are not claiming it.
 

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