Winter fuel payment SCRAPPED for 100,000 Scots – check if you're impacted
The new plans will see only 720,000 pensioners benefit from the increased payment
NATS chiefs today scrapped the winter fuel payment for around 100,000 pensioners despite slamming Sir Keir Starmer's decision to cut the payment last year as a 'betrayal'.
SNP ministers announced they would follow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and only pay the benefit to elderly people who have an income of less than £35,000.
Advertisement
1
Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: 'This approach ensures a higher level of support"
Credit: Alamy
In Scotland, this will be worth £203 for those under 80, and £305 for those over 80 - slightly higher than the £200 and £300 payments in England and Wales.
However, the previously planned £100 payment to all pensioners has been scrapped, leaving the richest without a winter fuel payment.
The new plans will see 720,000 pensioners benefit from the increased payment, around 100,000 fewer than the 815,000 set to receive the universal payment.
Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: 'This approach ensures a higher level of support which those most in need will receive.
Advertisement
'The UK Government's decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment last winter was a betrayal of millions of pensioners, and their recent U-turn is welcome if belated.'
Following the Chancellor's u-turn, all pensioners in England and Wales will now get a Winter Fuel Payment or £200 or £300 - but the cash will be clawed back via the tax system for anyone who earns over £35,000.
The changes announced by Ms Reeves last week will result in further funding increases for the Scottish Government, which the First Minister said is expected to be around £120million.
And Nats ministers said they would use that cash to mirror the Westminster policy for their own devolved benefit called the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
Advertisement
It comes after John Swinney insisted on Monday no Scottish pensioner would 'receive less than they would under the new UK scheme'.
Speaking at an event on public sector reform in Glasgow, the First Minister hit out at the initial decision to cut the benefit.
Fuel duty hike is double blow after Winter Fuel Payment loss, says pensioner
He said: 'To be quite blunt about it, I don't believe cutting this winter lifeline was ever going to save a penny.
'Making millions of pensioners poorer makes them also colder and makes them also sicker, and that in turn puts up the bill for our social services and our NHS.'
Advertisement
He added: 'It's one of the reasons we were so quick to step in to protect pensioners in Scotland as best as we could from that wrong decision by the UK Government.
'But now that they've seen the error of their ways, my Government will once again do the right thing by Scotland's pensioners.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Keir Starmer chairs Cobra meeting as Donald Trump says he ‘may' strike Iran
The high-level meeting follows the Prime Minister's return from the G7 summit in Canada at which he and other world leaders reiterated their 'commitment to peace and stability'. But the US president, who left the summit a day early, told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday that he was considering strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. He said: 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Israel and Iran have exchanged fire over the past six days after air strikes which Tel Aviv said were aimed at preventing Tehran developing a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful, and claim Israel has caused hundreds of civilian casualties. Israeli jets continued to attack Tehran on Tuesday night, but the Iranian response appears to have diminished, with only 10 missiles intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system during the night. Mr Trump said Iran had 'got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate', adding it was 'very late to be talking' but 'we may meet'. On Tuesday night, the president had used his Truth Social platform to describe Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an 'easy target'. He later posted the words 'Unconditional surrender', prompting Mr Khamenei to warn that any American military involvement would result in 'irreparable damage' to the US. Amid questions over potential American involvement in the conflict, Sir Keir convened his senior ministers for a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country. Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Canada (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The department said the evacuation was temporary and a 'precautionary measure', with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'Our embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance.' Downing Street would not say whether British nationals should attempt to leave the country. A Number 10 spokesman would only say that the Government's 'key message' was to 'follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter'. Britons have already been advised against all travel to Israel, and those already in the country have been urged to register their presence with the embassy. The Foreign Office has also said land borders with Jordan and Egypt remain open, and consular teams are in position to provide assistance to British nationals who choose to leave Israel by land. The Number 10 spokesman added: 'This is a fast-moving situation. We are keeping all our advice under constant review and the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) continues to plan for a variety of developments, as you would expect.' Sir Keir had earlier insisted that Mr Trump was interested in de-escalation in the Middle East, saying 'nothing' he had heard from the president suggested Washington was poised to get involved. Asked whether the Prime Minister was confident that Mr Trump would not involve US forces in the conflict, a Number 10 spokesman said the UK's position was still that 'we want to de-escalate rather than escalate'.
Wales Online
14 minutes ago
- Wales Online
Eluned Morgan says she will hold UK Government's feet to fire on funding promise
Eluned Morgan says she will hold UK Government's feet to fire on funding promise The First Minister says she has received categorical assurances that control of post EU funding will return to Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan. (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne ) First Minister Eluned Morgan said she will hold the UK Government's 'feet to the fire' after receiving what she said are categorical assurances that Sir Keir Starmer will follow through on a manifesto pledge of returning the running of post EU structural funding to the Welsh Government. What became the Shared Prosperity Fund, which will from next year will be known as the Local Growth Fund, was established by the former Tory Government of Boris Johnson as a replacement for the loss of structural funding from the EU following Brexit to some of the most deprived communities in the UK, including the Valleys and west Wales. EU structural funding was administered by the Welsh Government via the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). With lobbying from then Welsh Secretary, Alun Cairns, the decision was taken that the post EU funding would bypass the Welsh Government and go straight to local authorities who were able to bid for funding for local based projects. Sir Keir Starmer first pledged a return of control to the Welsh Government when addressing the Welsh Labour's annual conference in 2023. It was also confirmed in the party's General Election manifesto last year. Confusion over the role of the Welsh Government in running of the fund was created in the spending review documentation last week from Chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out UK Government departmental spending settlements for the next three financial years starting next April. It clearly highlighted a role for the Wales Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in partnership with the Welsh Government on post EU structural funding. Article continues below It says: 'As one of the representatives for the nations, the Wales Office will work with the MHCLG to implement the new local growth fund, working in partnership with the Welsh Government. This will ensure that this funding is spent on projects that matter to the people of Wales and will drive growth across the country.' Similar language was also used in the documentation for Scotland nod Northern Ireland. Over the last week the Welsh Government has been seeking clarification, with the First Minister now saying she has received assurances from the Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones - although she didn't mention Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner. At a meeting of the Senedd committee for culture, communications, Welsh language, sport and international relations, Blaenau Gwent Labour MS Alun Davies said the spending review reference had seemingly broken the manifesto pledge by the Prime Minister on repatriating powers back to Wales. In response Ms Morgan said:'Just to make it clear I am not accepting what was put in there (spending review) in the way it has been interpreted. I have had a categorical assurance from the Secretary of State for Wales that this will be decided and managed by the Welsh Government. "This was a commitment by the Prime Minister on the stage of the Labour Party conference and I have made it absolutely clear that we will be holding their feet to the fire on this. And I am actually more confident that we are going to get to the place that I want to be, because I have been given those reassurances and it is something I also made clear in a meeting last week in front of the First Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones). In response Mr Davies said he very much welcomed the clarification. In the spending review it was confirmed that Wales will get an allocation of £630m over a three year period from April next year from the MHCLG's local growth fund. Wales getting a 22% allocation of the total funding available. If it was allocated to Wales under the Barnet Formula it would only receive around 5%. A UK Goverment source said 'Wales got the best deal on growth funding of any U nation. Every penny and the overall share of Wales' fund was protected. We are wholly committed to delivering Keir Starmer's pledge to restore the decision making role to Welsh Goverment.' Article continues below If the Welsh Government is to control the fund it will need to set up a delivery team as well as setting priorities for investment. A Welsh Government spokesman said; 'We will ensure this £630m funding has greater impact than the legacy Shared Prosperity fund. "We will continue to discuss the detail of this funding with the UK Government and will decide how it is used to support our economic ambitions and bring prosperity to all parts of Wales.'
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
Millions on Universal Credit to get guaranteed extra pay rises each year under government plans
MILLIONS of households on Universal Credit are set to receive a bumper set of inflation-busting pay boosts, starting next April. Almost seven million households will see their standard allowance rise by £725 more a year in cash terms by 2030, according to a new Bill introduced to Parliament this afternoon. 1 The DWP's Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which requires parliamentary approval, explains exactly how the standard allowance will change every April for the next four years. The standard allowance is the basic payment for households on Universal Credit. Currently, single people under 25 receive £316.98 a month and couples under 25 get £497.55 a month. Meanwhile, single people over 25 get £400.14 a month and couples aged 25 or older receive £628.10 a month. Normally, benefit payments go up each spring to help people keep pace with the rising cost of living, like food, fuel, and household bills. These increases typically match the consumer price index of inflation from the previous September. But, the government has claimed that the four-year benefit freeze from 2015 to 2019 has caused millions of payments to fall behind rising inflation. As a result, from April 2026, the government is proposing to hike the standard allowance by more than inflation over the next four years. This means that by 2030, the amount a claimant receives will be almost 5% higher than if it had only risen to match inflation. The increases will be worked out by adding the inflation rate from the previous September, plus an extra fixed boost. These extra percentages will be set at: 2.3% for 2026-27 3.1% for 2027-28 4.0% for 2028-29 4.8% for 2029-30 The government wants to help more people return to work and rely less on incapacity benefits, which face huge cuts. To save £5billion a year by 2030, it plans to make PIP assessments stricter and freeze the extra health payments in Universal Credit for those unable to work. The government believes that raising the standard allowance for everyone while reducing the health top-up will make returning to work more financially worthwhile and possible. However, charities disagree. Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: "We all know that our broken disability benefits system needs reform. "But these reckless plans, which official estimates show will plunge more than one million disabled people into poverty or even deeper into poverty, do not represent meaningful reform. "Government suggestions that these cuts are about helping people into work are entirely disingenuous. "Experts agree that only between 1% and 3% of those who will be hit by the cuts are expected to find work as a result." What is the Universal Credit standard allowance? UNIVERSAL Credit is a welfare scheme which was designed to combine several of the old "legacy benefits The standard allowance is the basic monthly payment provided to individuals or families who qualify. The amount you receive depends on your age and whether you're single or in a couple: Single, under 25: £316.98 Single, 25 or over: £400.14 Couple, both under 25: £497.55 Couple, one or both 25 or over: £628.09 You may also be eligible for additional amounts if you have children, have a disability or health condition, or need help with housing costs. What's happening to Universal Credit health payments? The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill also explains how the government proposes to slash incapacity benefits. For people already on Universal Credit, the current incapacity payment of £416.19 a month for those unable to work will be frozen until 2030. This means the payment will no longer increase with inflation each spring. However, for new claims starting from April 2026, this very same payment will be cut by half, to approximately £208 a month (or £50 a week). This reduced amount will also be frozen until 2030, meaning new claimants will receive significantly less extra support. The changes to Universal Credit payments need to be approved by Parliament and will be voted on soon. The government also plans to get rid of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which is used to decide if someone qualifies for Universal Credit health payments, at a later date. Instead, the DWP will use the PIP assessment to decide if someone is eligible for these health payments. The DWP aims to make this change by 2028. The plans to reform the benefits system were first unveiled by Secretary of State Liz Kendall in March, alongside the release of the DWP's Pathways to Work green paper. What are Work Capability Assessments? The DWP uses the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to evaluate a claimant's ability to work when applying for Universal Credit due to a health condition or disability. The WCA focuses on assessing functional limitations rather than specific medical diagnoses. It considers both physical and mental health, awarding points based on how an individual's condition impacts their ability to carry out daily activities. After the assessment, claimants may be placed into one of two groups - Limited Capability for Work (LCW) or Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA). Claimants assigned to the LCW group are recognised as currently unfit for work but may be capable of returning to employment in the future with the right support and assistance. Those in this group are required to engage in work-related activities, such as attending Jobcentre appointments or training courses. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in sanctions, including a reduction or suspension of benefits. Claimants are placed in the LCWRA group if their health condition or disability is considered so severe that they are not expected to be able to work or participate in any work-related activities in the foreseeable future. Those in the LCWRA group receive an additional amount on top of their standard Universal Credit allowance currently worth £416.19 a month.
