The Labour Government has chosen to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for 39,979 pensioners in Medway despite promising to protect the benefit during the general election.
Councillor George Perfect has called on the Labour Government to reverse its plan to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment which will impact ten million pensioners, including 39,979 in Medway.
Just weeks after the election, the new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a cut to the Winter Fuel Payment which will reduce it by between £100 and £300, money that would usually have helped pensioners with their heating bills during the winter.
Between 2010 and 2023, the Conservatives had lifted over 200,000 pensioners out of absolute poverty. The Conservative Government’s unprecedented cost of living support following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine also prevented 400,000 pensioners from falling into absolute poverty after housing costs in 2022-23.
Labour’s scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment comes despite Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones MP, saying that Labour had ‘no plans to make changes’ to pensioner benefits.
Councillor Perfect said:
“The new Labour Government has chosen to remove the Winter Fuel Payment from around 39,979 pensioners in Medway and this will have a devastating impact on vulnerable people this winter.
“Rachel Reeves must reverse this decision so that those who worked hard and saved all of their life, live with dignity and security in retirement.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Rachel Reeves has cut the Winter Fuel Payment for 10 million pensioners, abandoning Labour’s election pledge within weeks of entering government. The Chancellor confirmed that Labour will means-test the Winter Fuel Payment, limiting it to those in receipt of Pension Credit and certain other means-tested benefits from winter 2024-25 (HM Treasury, Public Spending Audit 2024-25, p.10, 29 July 2024, link; BBC News, 10 August 2024, link).
- Around 880,000 vulnerable pensioner households will miss out on the Winter Fuel Payment despite being on very low incomes. In February 2024, around 880,000 households did not claim Pension Credit despite being eligible. After the Chancellor’s cuts, they will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment, despite being on a low income – under £218.25 a week for single pensioners and under £332.95 for couple (DWP, Press Release, 25 February 2024, link; UK Government, Pension Credit, accessed 20 August 2024, link).
- The Energy Price Cap is expected to increase by £149 per year from October 2024. At the same time Labour is removing support for pensioners to help with heating bills, Ofgem has increased the energy price cap by nine per cent, from £1,568 to £1,714 per year for a typical consumer (BBC News, 19 August 2024, link).
- The Conservatives reduced the number of pensioners living in absolute poverty by more than 200,000 since 2010, supporting those most in need. When we left office, there were 200,000 fewer pensioners living in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2010, as we protected the most vulnerable in society (UK Parliament, Hansard, 13 September 2023, link; DWP, Stat-Xplore, accessed 25 September 2023, link).
- The Conservatives’ cost of living support prevented 400,000 pensioners falling into absolute poverty. The unprecedented cost of living support prevented 1.3 million people from falling into absolute poverty in 2022-23, including 300,000 children, 600,000 working age adults and 400,000 pensioners (Hansard, 21 March 2024, Vol. 747 Col. 63WS, link).
- The Conservatives delivered nearly 12 million Winter Fuel Payments and Pensioner Cost of Living Payments to pensioners during winter 2023-24, helping to protect the most vulnerable. 11.9 million payments, worth £4.8 billion, were made to pensioners across the UK in 2023-24, providing vulnerable households up to £600 to help with their energy bill during the winter (DWP, Press Release, 20 December 2023, link).
- The Conservatives drove up applications for Pension Credit by 73 per cent in just 12 months, ensuring the most vulnerable pensioners were receiving the support they were entitled to. Following our Pension Credit campaign, 73 per cent more pensioners applied for Pension Credit in February 2023 compared with February 2022 (Hansard, 6 March 2023, Vol. 729 Col. 2, link).
- Darren Jones claimed Labour have ‘no plans to make changes’ to pensioner benefits. STUDIO: ‘In 2019, Labour guaranteed fuel payments, free TV licences and bus passes would be maintained as universal benefits. But the guarantee has been quietly dropped from the party's manifesto. Labour now promise only to maintain the state pension triple lock. Is all of the above true?’ JONES: ‘Well, we have promised to maintain the triple lock for pensioners, but we have no plans to make changes to those other benefits’ (LBC, 28 June 2024, archived).
