Sir – Christmas bonus payments for nearly 2,000 elderly people in East Hampshire to help with winter fuel bills will not be paid until nearly Easter as questions by Liberal Democrat MPs revealed that 8.69 per cent of bonus payments will not be made until the end of March.
According to research carried out by Liberal Democrats in Parliament, nearly one in 10 older people will be getting their Christmas bonus at a time when their grandchildren are getting their Easter eggs.
This late payment is appalling at a time of sky-high heating and fuel bills and having experienced the harshest winter for 18 years. Paying the bonus three months late is just not good enough.
The government must speed up payments and make sure older residents of the area get their bonus as soon as possible. Making the elderly wait until it's nearly Easter is just unacceptable.
Robert Saunders, Borovere Lane, Alton