Winter fuel payments
Retired Members' Group Secretary, Luke Howard, shares his thoughts on the recent changes to Winter Fuel Allowance.
We have all seen the way fuel and energy prices have rocketed in recent years. Although they have fallen back to some extent from the peaks, they are still far higher than we have experienced for many years.
This should be a time to ensure that households get all the help possible to meet heating bills, particularly the elderly who are most vulnerable to suffer drastic consequences of cold. Instead, our new Government is choosing to withdraw the winter fuel payment that has been paid to all pensioners since its introduction by Gordon Brown in 1997. Instead, a ‘targeted’ payment is offered to those who receive Pension Credit.
The fact that Pension Credit is needed illustrates the inadequacy of many people’s pensions. The Government acknowledges that about a third of those that need this extra benefit – almost 900,000 pensioners – do not apply for it, and that many more are just above the limits for Pension Credit but struggle with current high prices. We also know that the energy regulator is expecting gas and electricity prices to rise by about 10 per cent in October.
This makes the removal – sorry, ‘targeting’ – of the Winter Fuel Payment an appalling attack on some of our most vulnerable people. Millions of pensioners will struggle to pay their fuel bills in the coming months and will worry about whether they can afford to put the heating on; tens of thousands will suffer discomfort and ill health; and it is likely that thousands will die prematurely as a result.
The Government has promised a campaign to boost the take-up of Pension Credit, but that just shows that they aware this is a huge mistake. There is likely to be a vote in Parliament, and other challenges to this approach at Labour Party Conference and in the debate on next month’s budget. TSSA is supporting the campaign against this policy, led by the National Pensioners’ Convention and Age UK.
What can you do?
· Write to your MP: you can get details at https://www.theyworkforyou.com/, a web site that makes it easy to send an email to your MP;
· Think about pensioners you know – are they eligible for Pension Credit? Find out more here.
