Winter fuel payments are dominating the news agenda this week and with good reason – Labour want to start restricting them.
As the government faces a potential rebellion from its own MPs in parliament over this proposal, here’s want you need to know.
What is the winter fuel payment?
It is a tax-free payment of either £200 or £300 for pensioners to help them pay for their heating bills over the winter (those over 80 will receive the larger sum).
The exact amount is based on an individual’s age and circumstances between September 16 and 22, 2024 – qualifying week – and it does not affect other benefits.
This year, the cut off point will be for those born before September 23, 1958, so anyone who will be aged 66 or over at that point.
Right now, all pensioners in England and Wales are entitled to receive this payment.
Those in Scotland also receive a similar sum from the Scottish government.
It’s meant to help older people who may be at higher risk of not being able to pay their energy bills when they rise in the colder months.
How do Labour want change the winter fuel payment?
The government want it to be restricted to those on pension credit, which is essentially a top-up for people on the state pension.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions, the credit is worth more than £3,900 a year in itself.
It is also a means to receive other payments, like winter fuel payments.
Yet, an estimated 880,000 eligible pensioners have failed to claim pension credit and so may also miss out on winter fuel allowance, even if they’re eligible.
Someone may be able to claim pension credit if they are above state pension age with an income of less than £218.15 a week, or less than £332.95 if they have a joint income with their partner – including savings.
Anyone who has been in hospital receiving free treatment for more than a year, will be in prison for qualifying week, or will be living in care home from June 24 to September 22 2024, will not be eligible.
If someone is eligible, the gov.uk website says they will receive it automatically into their bank account – usually the same one the benefits go into.
They’ll be notified by a letter in October or November, saying how much they will get and the money is usually paid in by January 29, 2025.
The deadline for making a claim for winter 2024 to 2025 is March 31, 2025.
But people can challenge decisions about the claim.
When did the winter fuel payment come about?
This was a Labour policy introduced in 1997.
The party has regularly voiced its ongoing support for the winter fuel payments, and its near-universal access for pensioners, over the years.
In 2017, Labour slammed the then-Tory government for changing access to the allowance, saying it would put nearly 4,000 lives at risk.
And in May this year, then-leader of the opposition Keir Starmer asked former PM Rishi Sunak to “rule out taking pensioners’ winter fuel payments off them”.
Why is Labour turning against it now?
The government is asking MPs to vote in favour of limiting the payments to the pensioners on pension credit, in an effort to save money.
Labour say it does not want to be doing this, but it is key in order to fill the ”£22bn black hole” it says the Tories left behind in the government finances.
Starmer told the BBC on Sunday that he knows it is an “unpopular” decision, but will not apologise for it, because it’s for the best in the long-run.
The Scottish government has also said it would end pensioners’ universal entitlement to the payment.
Why are people concerned about the consequences of restricting it?
Leaders of the Unite union and the TUC urged the government to reverse this “ cruel” policy.
TUC’s Sharon Graham said: “People do not understand how a Labour government has decided to pick the pocket of pensioners and, at the same time, leave the richest in our society totally untouched.”
Former Tory pensions minister Baroness Altmann told Times Radio that the government had rushed this legislation through.
She warned: “The very poorest pensioners are not, I repeat, are not going to still keep their winter fuel payments.
“The very poorest are those who the government already knows, over 800,000 households who are eligible for pension credit but don’t claim it, so they won’t get it. They are the very poorest.”
She added that there are around one to two million people who are slightly above the means tested threshold, meaning they will be “poorer than those on pension credit and there is no mitigation for them.”
Altmann also claimed: “The chancellor and the prime minister may not be aware of just how there are so many poor pensioners in this country and are focusing perhaps just on those who are very well off.”
How has the government defended its decision?
Aside from repeatedly pointing to the £22bn black hole, the government has pointed out it is still holding onto the triple lock, where the state pension rises every year, in line with whichever is highest, the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5%.
As PM Keir Starmer noted at the weekend, that will see the state pension rise by around £400 by next spring.
“What I can guarantee for the state pension is that the increase under this government will outstrip any reduction in the winter fuel payment,” he told the BBC.
He added that it was right to address an “untargeted” system which gave money to millionaires.
There are also other government schemes, such as the Warm Home Discount which offers people a £150 discount if you are on pension credit or live in a low-income household.
A cold weather payment for those on certain benefits and if the temporary drops to 0 degrees Celsius or below for seven consecutive days is also available, while there is help from the Household Support Fund available, too.