Cold weather payments change benefits LA6-LA7 pensioners (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cold weather payments change benefits LA6-LA7 pensioners

4:59pm Monday 8th February 2010 in

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PENSIONERS in the Milnthorpe, Kirkby Lonsdale, Burton and Holme areas will receive the cold weather payments they are entitled to this winter after the Department of Work and Pensions changed the weather station they use for calculating payments in the LA6 and LA7 postcode areas.

Previously payments for these communities were calculated on the basis of the temperature at the Walney Island weather station.

While that provided satisfactory results for coastal areas like Arnside and Grange-over-Sands, some pensioners further inland were missing out on payments when the temperature dropped below freezing locally but not at Walney Island.

From this winter payments for the LA6 and LA7 areas will be calculated on the basis of a new weather station at Stonyhurst near Clitheroe, which will give more accurate readings.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who campaigned for the change, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to get the Met Office to recommend this change, and the Department of Work and Pensions to accept it.

“This winter has been particularly cold, and I had been contacted by a number of pensioners who have not been receiving cold weather payments when the temperature locally was well below freezing.”