Age UK Lancashire's concern over winter fuel payment cut

The changes announced by Labour mean pensioners who are not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payment, worth between £100 and £300, from this autumn.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Reeves described the economic legacy of the previous Conservative government as “unforgivable” and announced several decisions to reduce spending due to a "£22 billion black hole in public finances".

Lancashire Age UK said it has already seen a rise in enquiries to its information and advice line with many concerned about the implications.

The charity has also launched a campaign in response called ‘Save the Winter Fuel Payment for struggling pensioners’ which will ask people to sign a petition and engage with local MPs about this over the coming days.

These changes would see the number of pensioners receiving payments fall from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.

The blanket distribution of the winter fuel allowance has meant all pensioners - including those who are wealthy and do not necessarily need it - receive the cash annually to help with generally higher heating bills during cold winter months.

Labour thinks the change will save around £1.5 billion annually from the public purse.

Now only those on pension credit - a benefit for pensioners whose income falls below a certain level, and tops up their income to around £220 for single people, or roughly £330 for those with a partner - and those on means-tested benefits can get it.

Recent estimates showed around 850,000 pensioners eligible for pension credit do not claim it.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, believes the policy shift will create a social injustice, as those who badly need it will not receive it whilst those who are well-off will hardly notice the difference.  

She said: “We strongly oppose the means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP).

"Our initial estimate is that as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in trouble as a result.

“It is well established that pensioners tend to do everything possible to avoid going into debt, so if they are worried about their future energy bills, we know their likely response will be to ration their fuel use and economise by reducing their spending on other essentials.

“This proposed policy change is therefore certain to result in more older people experiencing a horrible 'eating or heating' dilemma.”

Figures from the Warm This Winter campaign suggest that around 41 per cent of over-75s could now see their winter heating budget disappear.

Ms Abrahams added: “A big reason for this disastrous outcome is that more than one in three pensioners entitled to Pension Credit, the qualifying benefit for WFP under this proposal, don’t receive it, a proportion that’s been roughly constant for many years.

“Means-testing the WFP this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision, and one that will potentially jeopardise their health as well as their finances – the last thing they or the NHS needs.

“With winter now just over the horizon, the Government should halt their proposed change to WFP and think again, given the clear evidence of how it will hurt the older people who need it the most.”

Rachel Reeves also announced some transport projects could be cancelled, and plans for new hospitals put at risk due to a lack of money to pay for the projects.

Accusing the previous government of making unfunded promises which they did not budget for, she told MPs that was something she “would never do.”

Ms Reeves added: “Let me be clear, this is not a decision I wanted to make, nor is it the one that I expected to make, but these are the necessary and urgent decisions I must make.

“It is the responsible thing to do to fix the foundations of our economy and bring back economic stability.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been contacted for comment.