UK Winter Fuel Payments to be Means Tested

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that winter fuel payments will be means tested starting in winter 2024, limiting eligibility to pensioners on pension credit and certain benefits. Age UK has opposed this decision, proposing an alternative plan to include more pensioners in the scheme.

Sources (26)

Open Article

9/14/2024

[0]BBC

Labour MPs 'shocked' at no full winter fuel assessment

9/12/2024

[1]BBC

No assessment on impact of winter fuel payment cut - Keir Starmer

9/10/2024

9/9/2024

[9]Reuters

UK's Starmer to defend spending cuts for elderly ahead of key vote

[10]The Guardian

Treasury has tried to push previous chancellors to means-test winter fuel allowance

[11]BBC

Winter fuel payment: Starmer facing call to U-turn over winter fuel payment cut

9/8/2024

[12]BBC

Newspaper headlines: 'Winter fuel anger' as 'scores of MPs could rebel'

[13]BBC

Winter fuel payments: Wrong choice made, says Unite boss

[14]Financial Times

Keir Starmer says his government must be ‘prepared to be unpopular’

[15]BBC

Keir Starmer says government will have to be unpopular and make tough choices

9/7/2024

[16]The Guardian

There’s no need to cut poorer pensioners’ income. Smarter winter fuel solutions are at hand | Steve Webb

9/6/2024

[17]BBC

What are winter fuel payments and pension credit, and how do you claim?

9/5/2024

[18]The Guardian

Labour’s decision to cut winter fuel payments is mean and politically inept | Larry Elliott

9/3/2024

[19]Financial Post

Reeves Defends Controversial Cut to UK Winter Fuel Payments

[20]Bloomberg.com

UK’s Reeves Defends Controversial Cut to Winter Fuel Payments

9/2/2024

[21]BBC

Cost-of-living fund extended after winter fuel payment cut

9/1/2024

[22]Bloomberg.com

UK Risked Run on Pound If Fuel Subsidy Had Stayed, Labour Says

[23]BBC

Lucy Powell: No plan to reverse scrapping winter fuel payments

8/31/2024

[24]The Guardian

Rachel Reeves under renewed fire from MPs and charities over cuts to winter fuel allowance

8/30/2024

[25]BBC

Winter fuel payments in NI to become means tested

Score	Value
Scale	7
Novelty	5
Positivity	2
Reliability	8
Actionability	6
Society	8
Journalism	5

Highlights

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to limit winter fuel payments to pensioners on pension credit, affecting around two million elderly people.
Age UK has proposed an alternative plan to include more pensioners in the winter fuel payment scheme.
The means testing of winter fuel payments will begin in winter 2024, with payments restricted to those on certain benefits.
Northern Ireland's communities minister confirmed that Stormont will follow Westminster's lead on means testing winter fuel payments.
The estimated additional cost to maintain universal entitlement to winter fuel payments in Northern Ireland for winter 2024/25 is £44.3 million.

Perspectives

Age UK and various Labour MPs oppose the means testing of winter fuel payments, arguing it will cause severe hardship for many pensioners who rely on this support. They believe the policy should be reconsidered to include a broader range of pensioners who need assistance.
The government defends the means testing of winter fuel payments as a necessary measure to address the £22 billion financial shortfall, arguing that it is important to target support to those who need it most while maintaining fiscal responsibility.