LABOUR cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment mean the benefit will no longer be universal and will now only apply to some pensioners.
The benefit will now be means-tested, which means that it can only be claimed by pensioners claiming certain other benefits.
It has also thrown a spanner into the works of the Scottish Government’s preparations for the benefit to be devolved.
Who will it affect?
The Scottish Government expects that around 900,000 people in Scotland would no longer be eligible to claim the Winter Fuel Payment, which allows people aged 65 and older to claim between £100 and £300 off energy bills.
Who gets the Winter Fuel Payment now?
The benefit was previously universal, meaning everyone who met the age requirement qualified to claim it.
After changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves (above) last month, only those claiming certain benefits will be eligible. They are:
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income Support
The Scottish Government expects there to be around 130,000 people in Scotland eligible to claim the Winter Fuel Payment.
How does this affect Scotland?
Aside from the impact on elderly Scots, the changes have irked the Scottish Government in another way. Holyrood was supposed to be taking over the Winter Fuel Payment as a devolved benefit this year.
It is going to be called the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment but its launch has been pushed back to the financial year 2025-26.
There will be an equivalent funded by the Department of Work and Pensions in the meantime, The National understands.
What is the Scottish Government saying?
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville (below) said: “Despite all efforts to review our financial position we have been left with no choice but to follow the UK Government and restrict payments to older people who receive relevant eligible benefits.
“This is a necessary decision when faced with such a deep cut to our funding and in the most challenging financial circumstances since devolution. The reduction we are facing amounts to as much as 90% of the cost of Scotland’s replacement benefit, the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
“Given the UK Government’s decision to restrict payments to those in receipt of means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit, and the implications for the Scottish Government detailed above, I have urged the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to undertake a benefits take-up campaign for Pension Credit and to move forward with plans for a social energy tariff.
“Both of these measures will provide some further protection to energy customers in greatest need.”
And Finance Secretary Shona Robison said she “shared the frustration of everyone”, but that the Scottish Government had “no choice” but to cut the payment.
She said: “Let me be blunt. We could not find up to £160m that has now been withdrawn by the UK Labour government that we were relying on in order to deliver what would have been a broader universal winter payment.
“That really frustrates me, I have to say, because I know about the levels of fuel poverty in our country, in an energy rich country, both energy rich in terms of oil and gas, but also in terms of green energy.
“And yet, because of the constraints of devolution and this unexpected cut, we're not able to deliver what we wanted to deliver."
