The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders who are on long-term social welfare or health board payments and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs. A payment of £5 per week is paid to eligible households and £8 per week is paid in smokeless zones.
I have, in fact, already extended the duration of the scheme. Up to now, the scheme ran for 26 weeks but I extended it for two weeks in April 2001. In addition, the start of the next fuel season is being brought forward by one week to the beginning of October and the scheme will run for a period of 29 weeks.
The national and smokeless fuel schemes were reviewed in 1998 as part of my Department's series of programme evaluations. The review group took the view that improvements in the national fuel scheme cannot be looked at in isolation from the improvements in the primary weekly payment rates.
The group concluded that the present rates of payment should remain unchanged if improvements in primary payment rates fully compensated recipients for all price inflation, including fuel price inflation.
In that regard, the increases in primary payments of £8 to £10 per week that I brought into effect in April of this year are the largest ever implemented. They give a substantial real increase after fully compensating for inflation, including fuel price inflation.