2 weeks Ago By Richard Ault,Jon King
A shocking map shows how many pensioners will suffer as a result of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' cruel winter fuel payments cuts. Local authority areas frequently ranked as having the highest levels of deprivation in the country, such as Blackpool and Middlesbrough, will see more than 80% of pensioners lose the payments. You can see how many pensioners are likely to be eligible for payment next winter - and how many will miss out - using our interactive map below.
The Labour Government's cuts are most likely to affect pensioners in affluent areas, with more than nine in 10 pensioners missing out on fuel payments this year in some parts of the country. In Hart, Hampshire, 95.2% of pensioners will no longer be eligible for the payments, which means only about one in 20 will receive it.
The cuts were announced as part of a number of “urgent decisions” Ms Reeves said were necessary because of the previous Tory government’s “undisclosed” overspending. The Government says it could save £1.5billion.
It means those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments, worth between £100 and £300. Almost 150,000 people have urged Ms Reeves to reverse the cuts, which are set to hit around 10 million pensioners. Dennis Reed, Director of the Silver Voices campaign group, headed to Downing Street on Monday (October 28) to urge the Chancellor to protect older people in Wednesday’s Budget.
A petition, signed by almost 150,000 people, calls on the Government to reverse its plan to means-test the winter fuel allowance. The petition urges the Government to restore “a universal winter fuel payment for all older people on modest incomes, payable automatically without the need to claim”. Just over 11.
1 million pensioners were eligible for a winter fuel payment in England and Wales in 2022-23. As of last November, only 1.2m were eligible for pension credits, meaning just under 10m will miss out in England and Wales.
The change doesn't apply In Scotland, where responsibility for the payment is set to be transferred to the Scottish Government this winter and replaced with the pension-age winter heating payment. The top 10 areas where pensioners are most likely to lose their winter fuel payments are: Hart (95.2%), Wokingham (95.
0%), Rutland (94.6%) Vale of White Horse (94.5%)x, Mole Valley (94.
5%), South Oxfordshire (94.4%), Ribble Valley (94.3%), East Hampshire (94.
3%), Waverley (94.2%) and Fareham (94.2%).
Pensioners are least likely to lose out in these 10 areas: Tower Hamlets (54.9%), Hackney (61.8%), Newham (64.
8%), Islington (68.6%), Southwark (69.2%), Lambeth (71.
2%), Manchester (71.2%), Westminster (72.1%), Haringey (73.
0%) and Camden (73.4%). The Silver Voices petition also asks the Chancellor to resist calls to means test other universal benefits, such as the bus pass and free prescriptions in England; and to rule out scrapping single-person discounts on council tax.
Mr Reed, who was joined at Downing Street by other pensioners affected by the changes, and a cross-party group of MPs, successfully lobbied the previous government to retain the pensions Triple Lock . But he described the cuts already announced and others that could be made in Wednesday’s budget as “an even greater threat to the welfare and living standards of older people”. He said: “The winter fuel payment has already been scrapped for 10 million pensioners and the Government has not ruled out means-testing the other universal benefits, the bus pass and free prescriptions in England.
"Also there is speculation that the single-person discount on council tax will be scrapped, which would add further harsh burdens to many widows and widowers. “Our new petition calls for the Government to change track and protect and improve pensions and benefits; rather than targeting pensioners again in the October Budget.”.
