A new analysis has shown that an estimated 15,035 pensioners in Bath are at risk of losing the government’s £300 Winter Fuel payment, which helps with heating bills in the cold winter months.
The city’s Lib Dem MP, Wera Hobhouse who is also her party’s spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change, has backed a motion in Parliament to block government plans to scrap the payments for most pensioners.
The analysis is the estimated number of pensioners in the constituency who don’t receive pension credit, and so will lose the winter fuel allowance under the government’s plans – unless they receive other benefits. The figures were compiled by the House of Commons Library based on data from the Department of Work and Pensions.
If passed, the Liberal Democrat motion would protect local pensioners by blocking the government’s changes and restoring their winter fuel payments. It is set to be tabled as soon as Parliament returns next week and has been backed by all 72 Liberal Democrat MPs.
Across the country, 11 million pensioners are set to lose their winter fuel payment under the government’s plans, including two million that the charity Age UK has said will struggle to afford their energy bills as a result. This is despite the average energy bill being set to rise by £149 a year from October.
Mrs Hobhouse is urging the government to think again to protect poorer and more vulnerable pensioners from being forced to choose between eating and heating this winter.
She said:
“The government’s plan to scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance is a huge mistake.
“I have already heard from countless pensioners across Bath who are worried sick about losing this vital support and whether they will be able to afford their energy bills as the weather starts to get colder.
“I have already heard from countless pensioners across Bath who are worried sick about losing this vital support and whether they will be able to afford their energy bills as the weather starts to get colder.
“Stripping support from many of the poorest pensioners in Bath just when energy bills are set to rise again is simply wrong. It could force vulnerable elderly people in our community to choose between eating and heating this winter.
“That is why my fellow Liberal Democrat colleagues and I will do everything we can to block these plans as soon as Parliament returns in order to deliver a fair deal for pensioners in Bath and across the country.
“I recognise that the new government faces difficult choices after the appalling mess left by the Conservatives. But a rethink is urgently needed so that poorer and vulnerable pensioners in our community continue to get the support they so desperately need.”
Further information:
Under the government’s changes only those pensioners who receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits will still get the £300 winter fuel allowance towards the cost of their energy bills.
A breakdown of the number of pensioners not receiving pension credit by constituency, compiled by the House of Commons Library, is available here (source: DWP Stat-xplore)
The Liberal Democrats will table a parliamentary motion (known as a “prayer”) to block the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2024, published by the Government last week, from becoming law. If passed by the House of Commons, the motion would keep the current system of universal Winter Fuel Payments for pensioner households in place.
Age UK research has estimated that two million pensioners will struggle to pay their energy bills due to this cut, see here.
The winter fuel allowance should not be given to those paying higher rate of income tax.
I quite agree. In fact it has long been my view that the cut-off point should be that at which someone becomes eligible for the higher rate of tax. And surely it would be relatively straightforward to administer? And that way the genuinely deserving should not lose out.
Absolutely agree! And surely this would be a very straightforward method of working it out? They said 1 in 4 pensioners is a millionaire – where is that? The Home Counties? I’m a pensioner and nobody I know is a millionaire or even in the higher tax bracket. There should be a real Parliamenrary revolt across the board!
I have had conversations with some pensioners while out shopping. Some need the money, even some just over the threshold so unable to claim Pension Credit yet rely on the benefit to cover winter bills. Some could (and do) manage without it, passing the money on to relatives struggling financially but below pension age, while some donate it to charities. Claiming that people not receiving Pension Credit shouldn’t receive the Winter Fuel Allowance will do a lot of peripheral damage to those it is passed on to.