Four in 10 pensioners say denying them a chilly climate cost will see their bodily well being endure this winter.
New polling lays naked the appalling plight OAPs will discover themselves in as Labour embarks on a merciless money seize that may see 10 million refused a £300 serving to hand.
Analysis by charity Independent Age reveals round half of these dropping their Winter Fuel Payment will solely warmth and spend time in a single room, whereas 43% are planning to put on hats and coats indoors.
Only these in receipt of Pension Credit – a profit solely claimed by 65% of eligible older individuals – can be entitled to obtain chilly climate money underneath Labour’s pensioner purge.
Campaigners say the stark actuality now dealing with a few of the most weak is plain and have demanded a right away rethink on the coverage.
Independent Age chief govt Joanna Elson stated: “Tying the Winter Fuel Payment to Pension Credit now will see far too many older people fall through the cracks. Pension Credit still has a stubbornly low take up and in addition there is a large group of older people living just above the entitlement’s threshold, sometimes by just a few pounds. People in this situation will now have this vital money taken away from them.
“With winter around the corner, now is the time to bring older people on a low income back in from the cold.”
Latest figures present 760,000 households entitled to Pension Credit – which tops up a single individual’s weekly earnings to £218.15 or a joint weekly earnings to £332.95 – haven’t utilized.
Charities and campaigners are notably involved for the welfare of these whose earnings is simply above Pension Credit threshold, a bunch surviving on meagre mounted incomes however who’ve had their annual gasoline funds snatched from them.
Matthew McGregor, boss of charity 38 Degrees, stated: “The message to the Government is obvious: don’t let weak individuals fall by the cracks of our financial system this winter
“That’s why so many a whole lot of hundreds of us have come collectively to demand that Chancellor Rachel Reeves doesn’t scrap winter gasoline funds for struggling pensioners, simply as power payments have risen once more.
“This needs to be a get up name for the Prime Minister and Chancellor. Use this Autumn Budget to show whose facet you are on.”
Tomorrow charities and campaigners including Independent Age, End Fuel Poverty Coalition, National Pensions Convention, Uplift and Fuel Poverty Action will hand in combined petitions featuring 500,000 signatures in a desperate bid to halt the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment.
The universal benefit was introduced by Gordon Brown in 1997 entitling those of State Pension age a £300 cash bonus to help them heat their homes during the harsh winter months.
The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2024, which officially scrapped the scheme, came into effect on September 16 and confirmed: “A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, public or voluntary sectors is foreseen.” The revelation, unearthed by the Daily Express, sparked fury as was seen as a dereliction of duty toward those who need the most help and support.
Age UK said Chancellor Rachel Reeves was “duty bound” to bring forward additional measures in the Budget on October 30 to safeguard the poor, sick and disabled who will be disproportionately affected by the move which was nodded through.
The Government won a vote on the plan to restrict payments to all but the poorest pensioners by 348 votes to 228 – a majority of 120.
Some 52 Labour MPs did not take part in the vote, including Kim Johnson who represents Liverpool Riverside, England’s most deprived constituency where 8,838 households live in fuel poverty.
She described her party’s decision to slash the annual payments as “cruel” and one that could be “deadly on the most vulnerable of households”. She missed the Commons vote because she was at the dentist.
Only one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voted against the Government, saying the removal of the payments could be a “matter of life and death” for his constituents.
Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann stated: “I’m amazed that no evaluation of the impression on pensioner well being and additional pressure on NHS and social care assets has been achieved.
“This is so irresponsible and the sudden withdrawal with out cautious consideration and safety for the poorest pensioners appears relatively reckless.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1962246/winter-fuel-payment-labour-pensioners