The DWP has today announced nearly a million households in England and Wales – including 59,000 in Staffordshire and Cheshire – will receive Cold Weather Payments to cover the extra cost of heating during the cold snap last week. The payments have been triggered in over 500 postcode areas after temperatures dipped below freezing for seven consecutive days.
These include 16 ST postcodes covering most of Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove, Stone and Stafford. This is in addition to other ST postcodes that were triggered earlier this month.
It comes as North Staffordshire had been shivering in below-freezing temperatures for days. The payment is activated if the average temperature in an area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below for over seven consecutive days.
In total there will be £25 payments made to around 950,000 households which qualify because residents are in receipt of relevant benefits. The new payments were triggered over the weekend and into Monday.
As well as Staffordshire and Cheshire, other affected areas include Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Yorkshire and further south into the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
Cold Weather Payments are made to people in England and Wales who receive a range of benefits – with an estimated 3.9 million people eligible under the DWP scheme. The DWP says those claiming the following benefits may be eligible for the Cold Weather Payment; Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, and Support for Mortgage Interest. But not all those receiving these benefits will automatically receive a Cold Weather Payment.
Here is a full list of Staffordshire and Cheshire postcode areas to receive the latest payments
January 11
Keele weather station (49,000 households) ST1 – Stoke-on-Trent ST2 – Stoke-on-Trent ST3 – Stoke-on-Trent ST4 – Stoke-on-Trent ST5 – Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST6 – Stoke-on-Trent ST7 – Kidsgrove, Staffordshire ST12 – Barlaston, Staffordshire ST14 – Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST15 – Stone, Staffordshire ST16 – Stafford, Staffordshire ST17 – Stafford, Staffordshire ST18 – Hopton, Staffordshire ST19 – Penkridge, Staffordshire ST20 – Gnosall, Staffordshire ST21 – Eccleshall, StaffordshireCW1 – Crewe, Cheshire East
CW2 – Crewe, Cheshire East
CW3 – Bridgemere, Cheshire East CW5 – Nantwich, Cheshire East CW12 – Congleton, Cheshire East
SK10 – Macclesfield, Cheshire East SK11 – Macclesfield, Cheshire East
Cold weather payments triggered earlier in January
ST8 – BiddulphST9 – Endon, werrington, Stockton Brook, Wetley Roacks, Bagnall, Stanley, Consall, Longsdon and GrattonST10 – Cheadle and surrounding villagesST11 – Blythe Bridge, Forsbrook. Caverswall, Fulford, Caverswall, Draycoott-in-the-Clay, Stallington and Cookshill
ST13 – Leek
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