DWP and Labour could put 'stop' to 100,000 state pensioners losing Winter Fuel Payment

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could STOP the £200 and £300 Winter Fuel Payment axe after fresh calls following a study which showed as many as hundreds of thousands of state pensioners risk fuel poverty over the move.

The DWP and Labour have been urged to "stop" the axe as 100,000 pensioners are set to lose energy bill support. Labour Party MP and pensions minister Liz Kendall revealed figures from the Government's own impact assessment into the effects of means-testing.

According to Kendall, "an additional 100,000 pensioners are estimated to be in relative poverty after housing costs in 2026/27, 2028/29 and 2029/30". Morgan Vine, the director of Policy and Influencing at national charity Independent Age, explained: "It’s extremely alarming to learn that an estimated 100,000 older people could be pushed into poverty as a direct consequence of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment.

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"The UK Government’s own analysis has now revealed the extent of the devastating impact of limiting the payment to just those on Pension Credit. With this information now in the open, it is essential Ministers put a stop to this policy change right away.

“At Independent Age we can already see the terrible impact this policy decision is having, the older people living on a low income that we speak to feel forced into making drastic cutbacks. We have heard harrowing stories of people going to bed in hats and coats, washing in cold water, only heating one room and visiting public places to stay warm.

"This is unacceptable. With almost two million older people already living in poverty, this data is further evidence that the UK Government should change course and ensure everyone who needs the Winter Fuel Payment continues to receive it."

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: "It comes to something when the best policy option older people on tight budgets now have left is to hope and pray for a mild winter. But even if the weather is kind we know that millions will face impossible choices over how to make their money stretch far enough to keep them fed and warm through the colder months.

"The Government’s cut to Winter Fuel Payment is coming in too quickly and hitting too many older people, and their decision not to right the wrong in this Budget is a source of enormous regret. We fear there will be severe consequences for some older people as a result and we will be monitoring this carefully over the coming weeks and months, while continuing to campaign."