No prospect of universal winter fuel payment, says pensions minister
There is no prospect of returning to a universal winter fuel payment, pensions minister Torsten Bell has said.
Speaking to the Work and Pensions Committee, Mr Bell said: '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% 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.'
Mr Bell said he did not have 'lots to add' to what Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had said recently about the allowance.
He told the MPs: 'Of course the announcement, as and when it's made, will be made to the House.'
Sir Keir recently signalled a partial U-turn over the Government's decision to strip winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.
The Prime Minister said 'as the economy improves', he wanted to look at widening eligibility for the payments worth up to £300.
But officials have been unable to say how many more pensioners would be eligible.
The decision to means-test the previously universal payment was one of the first announcements by Chancellor Rachel Reeves after Labour's landslide election victory last year, and it has been widely blamed for the party's collapse in support.
The Government has insisted the policy was necessary to help stabilise the public finances, allowing the improvements in the economic picture which Sir Keir said could result in the partial reversal of the measure.
On July 29 2024, the Government announced that from winter 2024, winter fuel payments would be dependent on receiving another means-tested benefit, as part of measures to fill a 'black hole' in the public finances.
This meant the number of pensioners receiving the payment was reduced by around 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.
Pension credit is the primary benefit by which pensioners can receive the winter fuel payment.
The credit tops up incomes for poorer pensioners and acts as a gateway to additional support, including the winter fuel payment.
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