Tom Arthur welcomes £50 boost to around 14,300 households in Renfrewshire

Tom Arthur, SNP MSP for Renfrewshire South has welcomed the news that around 14,300 households in Renfrewshire will receive an automatic £50 from the Scottish Government’s new Winter Heating Payment in the coming few weeks regardless of the weather conditions.

The new payment replaces the Cold Weather Payment – a Westminster benefit administered by the DWP – that paid out when the temperature in Renfrewshire fell far enough for an extended period.

Tom Arthur said: “This really is a massive improvement for around 14,300 hard-pressed households in Renfrewshire.

“We have replaced the old Westminster payment – which only paid out when the temperature plunged for a sustained period – with a new Scottish payment that is reliable because it is guaranteed every year and does not depend on the temperature turning Baltic.

“It means those in need will get the much-needed extra cash this month or next without having to shiver away at home while hoping the weather stays cold long enough to trigger a payment.

“Last winter, no cold weather payments were made across whole swathes of the country. In total, only 11,000 people in the whole of the country received the cash from Westminster. This year, because of the SNP Scottish Government, around 14,300 households in Renfrewshire alone will get an extra £50 to help with the Tory cost-of-living crisis.

“And the total amount paid out by Westminster also varied enormously from year to year. Between 2015 and 2022, an average of only £8.3million was given out in Scotland to an average of 185,000 households.

“The new Scottish benefit will see £20million put into the pockets of 415,000 households in the next few weeks.

“That means around 14,300 households in Renfrewshire are guaranteed to receive £50 to help with their bills – regardless of how cold it is.”

Table with estimates based on CTR recipients