Rachel Reeves has confirmed more pensioners will be eligible for winter fuel payments this year – but confusion remains over how the threshold could be changed.
Sir Keir Starmer failed to provide clarity on what the new means-test could be during Wednesday’s PMQs, which came moments after the chancellor’s surprise announcement at a Q&A in Manchester.
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Following a speech about her upcoming spending review, Ms Reeves said details on the government’s winter fuel U-turn will be fleshed out “as soon as we possibly can”.
She added: “People should be in no doubt, the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter.”
However the prime minister was unable to say how many pensioners would have the benefit restored when grilled on the matter by Kemi Badenoch in the House of Commons.
The Tory leader claimed the chancellor “is rushing her plans because she just realised when winter is”.
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She asked: “On behalf of the pensioners who want to know, can the prime minister be clear with us here and now: how many of the 10 million people who lost their winter fuel payments will get it back?”
Sir Keir didn’t answer the question, only saying the government will “look again at the eligibility for winter fuel and of course we’ll set out how we pay for it”.
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Axing universal winter fuel payments was one of the first things Labour did in government.
The payment was aimed at helping pensioners pay for higher fuel bills during the colder months, but now only those in receipt of pension credit or other benefits get it.
Means-testing it meant the number of pensioners eligible was slashed from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.
Labour said it was necessary because of a £22bn blackhole left behind by the Conservatives, which they claimed was larger than they were expecting when they entered government.
The change was expected to save around £1.3bn in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in subsequent years.
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Ministers now say decisions taken to stabilise the economy mean the eligibility can be extended.
However, the U-turn is largely seen as a response to the party’s drubbing at the local elections, which Labour MPs blamed on the unpopularity of the policy on the door step.
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It wasn’t clear until today whether the changes would come into effect before this winter, as the funding is expected to be laid out officially in the autumn statement in November.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell today confirmed to the Work and Pensions Committee that there is no prospect of returning to a universal winter fuel payment, saying “most people agree it’s not a good idea to have a system of paying a few hundred pounds to millionaires”.
Last month, former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown said governments should be fair to pensioners but one solution could be excluding only those on the top rate of income tax from winter fuel payments.
Universal winter fuel payments were introduced by Mr Brown when he was chancellor in 1997, in the first year of the New Labour government.
