Retirees in Northern Ireland who are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payments this year could be eligible for an £80 supplement from their local government

State pensioners 'ineligible' for Winter Fuel Payment are getting one-off £80

by · Birmingham Live

State pensioners who are "ineligible" for the Winter Fuel Payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) following a shake-up in criteria from the new Labour Party government will get a one-off payment of £80 instead.

Retirees in Northern Ireland who are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payments this year could be eligible for an £80 supplement from their local government. The Northern Ireland Executive has set out plans for a temporary scheme, reportedly worth £17 million, to pay cash to those stripped of their Winter Fuel Payment.

Unite, which has been calling on the devolved governments to mitigate the cut while preparing a legal challenge against the UK Government, said Wales and Scotland now must follow Northern Ireland’s lead. Stormont’s scheme does not replace the Winter Fuel Payment for those no longer eligible, which would have cost £44m, and Unite estimated that pensioners may get around £80 each to help with their heating bills.

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A total of 11.6million got the Winter Fuel Payment last winter, up 214,000 compared to 2022/23. But analysis by Age UK has found that 82 per cent of pensioners living below or just above the poverty line are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payment this winter.

This includes huge numbers of older people who are aged over 80, disabled, living alone and whose incomes are so low that they bring them into this group.

The charity said that 10.7 million pensioners are set to lose this benefit, of whom almost one in four (23 per cent) live in poverty or just above the poverty line. The number of pensioners affected that are in or near poverty varies by region. The worst-affected regions are the South East, Northern Ireland and Wales, with 86 per cent of the least well-off pensioners losing their Winter Fuel Payment.

Even in the least-affected region, the North East, 74 per cent of retirees in or close to poverty will lose the benefit.