The Department for Work and Pensions is reportedly contemplating a shift that might leave retirees in three council tax bands in line for returning to receive the £300 Winter Fuel Payment. If applied, this change stands to bank about £1.5 billion annually while widening the perk to cover an extra 11 million households.
Steve Webb, ex-pensions minister now with LCP, points out over half of pensioner homes (6.3 million) occupy Council Tax band A-C homes. Often, these properties are linked with lower incomes, suggesting that zeroing in on Winter Fuel Payments for these groups could really shore up the less well-off pensioners.
IFS’s Tom Waters reckons the easiest course would be to ditch last summer’s policy tweak and “return to giving Winter Fuel Payment to all pensioners”. At PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer addressed the ongoing financial tight spot Brits face, including pensioners, stating: “I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners, as the economy improves.
“We want to make sure people feel those improvements in their lives moving forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments,” reports the Express.
“As the economy improves, we want to take measures that will impact on people’s lives, and therefore we will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of the fiscal event.”
Mr Webb, the former Liberal Democrats Pensions Minister, countered: “My feeling is that they are deluding themselves if they think a marginal increase in the cut-off point will win them any friends. The large majority of pensioners will still lose their winter fuel allowance, and people just the wrong side of the new cut-off will also feel aggrieved.”
The Prime Minister has hinted that the means-testing threshold will be lifted so that more pensioners can receive the money, though there remains a lack of details on this.He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I want to look again at where the threshold is. That’s for sure. I’ll be clear with you.
“In relation to that, I do think it was our duty to stabilise the economy and to fill in that £22billion black hole. And I’m not going to resile from that.”
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