Winter gas funds received’t be reinstated for all in blow to hundreds of thousands, minister confirms | EUROtoday

Winter gas funds won’t be reinstated for all pensioners, a minister has mentioned in a blow to hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the nation.

It got here as Rachel Reeves confirmed an anticipated U-turn on the controversial cuts can be in place for this winter, however mentioned the federal government wouldn’t set out particulars of how it could pay for it till the autumn Budget.

Sir Keir Starmer final month introduced his intention to provide extra individuals entry to winter gas funds, simply months after Labour made the beforehand common fee means-tested.

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But there was rising confusion over what these adjustments would appear to be, who they may have an effect on and after they can be launched.

On Wednesday, pensions minister Torsten Bell confirmed there was no prospect of returning to a common winter gas fee for all.

Speaking to the work and pensions committee, Mr Bell mentioned: “Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no, the principle I think most people, 95 per cent of people, agree, that it’s not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundreds of pounds to millionaires, and so we’re not going to be continuing with that.

“But we will be looking at making more pensioners eligible.”

It was initially anticipated that the adjustments can be unveiled at subsequent week’s spending evaluation, however the chancellor has now mentioned the federal government will “set out how everything would be paid for in the budget in the autumn”.

Reports in The Guardian and The Times say the Treasury is contemplating restoring the fee for all pensioners, earlier than requiring better-off claimants to pay it again by way of tax payments over the course of the subsequent monetary yr.

The threshold may very well be primarily based on the common stage of actual family disposable earnings, stories The Times.

Speaking in Manchester on Wednesday, Ms Reeves mentioned: “I had to make decisions last year to restore sound public finances, and that involved a number of difficult decisions around welfare, taxation and also public spending, including the decision to means-test winter fuel payments so only the poorest pensioners, those on pension credit, got it.

“But we have now put our public finances on a firmer footing. The economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means-test.

“So we will be making changes to that. They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter, and we’ll announce the details of that and the level of that as soon as we possibly can.”

Labour MP Rachael Maskell criticised the choice to not restore winter gas funds to all, warning that “means-tested benefits fail to reach people”.

She instructed The Independent: “The challenge I place to the minister is this: how will the winter fuel payments be distributed to ensure all vulnerable people get the support they need?

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“Over 3 or 4 million people who are eligible did not claim pension credit, the gateway to the winter fuel payment, last winter, as there is a reason why means-tested benefits fail to reach people – a point government should have learnt having thrown everything at trying to get people to claim.

“When 1 million more people are in fuel poverty, it shows that not just the eligibility needs changing but also the process through which to access the payments, or people will continue to go cold.

“This is why universalism works with the taxation system then clawing back money from those with high pensions or assets.”

Winter gas funds are a £300 fee to assist with power prices within the colder months. In July, the chancellor introduced that pensioners not in receipt of pension credit or different means-tested advantages would not obtain the profit.

As a consequence, simply 1.5 million pensioners obtained the fee in winter 2024-25 – a large drop from the ten.8 million pensioners who obtained it the yr earlier than.

The cuts had been deeply unpopular as a result of they had been seen as being disproportionately damaging to weak individuals, and had been criticised for leaving 1000’s of poorer pensions who had been on the borderline lacking out on the fee.

In November, it was revealed that the federal government’s personal figures indicated it could pressure 100,000 pensioners into poverty in 2026.

The coverage was partly blamed for Labour’s poor efficiency on the native elections – which noticed them lose two-thirds of the council seats that they had in 2021– in addition to the beforehand Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary seat to Reform UK.

The cuts – mixed with the £5bn welfare cuts and the occasion’s determination to maintain the 2 youngster profit cap in place – have sparked rising concern over the course of the federal government amongst Labour MPs.