Parliament: The House In Brief: Update on fuel benefit

MEN AGED between 60 and 65 who are now eligible to receive pounds 100 winter fuel payments will be told how to claim early next year, said the Social Security Secretary, Alistair Darling.

After last week's European Court judgment that paying women the allowance at 60 while men had to wait until they were 65 was unlawful discrimination, the Government will now have to update its files, he said.

"We will need to find out the names and addresses of the people who are newly eligible for these payments," Mr Darling said in a Commons written reply. "This process will need to be developed carefully and appropriate IT systems built to deal with claims."

The ruling means up to 1.5 million men are now entitled to the benefit.