State pensioners waking up to 'one off' £120 payment after losing Winter Fuel Allowance

Norfolk County Council revealed how it plans to spend the £6.7million it received from the government's Household Support Fund.

Thousands of pensioners are poised to get a one-off cost of living payment worth £120 after losing a £300 Winter Fuel Payment. Norfolk County Council revealed how it plans to spend the £6.7million it received from the government's Household Support Fund.

The local authority 50,000 households will see the benefit of it. The council plans to use £750,000 working with charities and organisations to identify elderly people who missed out on Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pension credit eligibility, Wymondham & Attenborough Mercury reports.

The council will use £750,000 to work with organisations and charities, such as Age UK and Citizens Advice Bureau, to identify pensioners who just miss out on eligibility for pension credit. These people could get one-off cost of living support of up to £120 thanks to the council scheme.

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Andrew Jamieson, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: “There will be thousands of people who will miss the new cut-off by a small margin, leaving them without the means to pay for the cost of fuel. The council will make sure payments make their way quickly to those who most need them."

£3.6m is going towards cost-of-living vouchers for families eligible for means-tested free school meals. Liberal Democrat county councillor Sharon Blundell, said: "Let us not forget this Conservative administration rejected a Lib Dem proposal to create a fuel poverty strategy for Norfolk which would have helped our most vulnerable in the long term."

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group, welcomed the funding but highlighted how the Tory council had cut the minimum income guarantee for many with disabilities, so they had to pay more for care. The Household Support Fund was expanded by the new Labour Party government this year.

It came in the wake of their General Election victory, amid fears the scheme could be wound up after the Tories lost.