Major update over legal fight to stop DWP Winter Fuel Payment cuts

A huge update to the legal fight over the £300 Winter Fuel Payment cuts from the government has emerged - as millions look set to lose £300 this winter. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is scrapping £200 or £300 payments for the majority of OAPs.

Two Scottish pensioners have been given a hearing date to challenge the UK and Scottish government's decision to cut access to the benefit. If successful, more than 10 million households that have lost the annual top-up of up to £300 could see the help reinstated from the DWP.

Under the 2010 Equality Act, public bodies, including lawmakers, have a duty to consider the impact of their decisions on 'protected characteristics' which include age and disability. The central argument of the case, which is being presented by the Govan Law Centre (GLC), is that the new Labour Party government failed to comply with this.

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The GLC states that the government did not carry out a detailed equality impact assessment as required before restricting the Winter Fuel Payment. While the government claims that it published a 'High-Level Equality Analysis,' the GLC contends that this does not meet the requirements of the Equality Act.

It states that there was no "proper assessment" of the risks associated with the new rules. If the court rules that the government did not fulfil its duties under the Equality Act, then the decision to limit payments could be ruled unlawful.

A Government spokesperson declined to comment on the legal case, instead reiterating that it was right to "target support to those who need it most" due to the "dire state of public finances we have inherited". Govan Law Centre's legal challenge has been given permission to proceed by the Scottish courts.

However, the full hearing has been scheduled for 15 January 2025.