DWP and Government to issue £524 one-off payment to pensioners
The DWP and Scottish Government are set to issue a series of one-off payments and energy bill help to people over State Pension age in the coming months, with the first payment due imminently
People over the State Pension age could be eligible for a series of additional payments and assistance with energy bills in the coming months, courtesy of the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
There are four cash payments and one that is paid directly to energy suppliers, all amounting to up to £524.75 in extra support. It's crucial to note that most of these payments won't be disbursed until later this year, but they could be considered now when planning household budgets closer to Christmas - particularly as energy bills typically surge during the colder months due to increased usage.
The Pension Age Winter Fuel Payment has now superseded the Winter Fuel Payment for all Scottish pensioners. This winter, everyone aged 66 and above will receive at least £100 from the Scottish Government, while those on Pension Credit will be entitled to a higher payment of either £203.40 or £305.10, depending on their age.
New applications for Pension Credit submitted before September 22, which subsequently prove successful, will qualify for the higher rates of Pension Age Winter Fuel Payment.
This date is significant as it ensures an automatic payment during the designated payment window; any applications made after this date until mid-December would be paid in arrears, reports the Daily Record.
Winter Fuel Payment U-turn
Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves declared that over 9 million pensioners in England and Wales will automatically receive this year's Winter Fuel Payment, following a reversal by the UK Government on its decision to limit the annual heating allowance to pensioners receiving means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit.
Pensioners born before 22 September 1959 will automatically receive payments of £200 if they are aged between 66 and 79, or £300 if they are 80 and over, later this year.
However, pensioners with an annual income exceeding £35,000 will not be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. Those above this threshold will need to repay the money either through PAYE or a Self Assessment tax return.
An option to opt-out of the payment has also been announced, although no further details have been confirmed yet.
The impact of this policy reversal on the 1.1 million pensioners in Scotland, where the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment has replaced Winter Fuel Payments, remains uncertain.
Pension Credit
Regarding Pension Credit, nearly 1.4 million older people across Great Britain, including over 125,000 residing in Scotland, are currently receiving this benefit, which could provide an average of £4,300 in additional support during the 2025/26 financial year.
Some older individuals believe that having savings or owning their home makes them ineligible for this means-tested benefit. However, even an award of just £1 per week can unlock other forms of support.
To determine if you're eligible for a Pension Credit claim, you can utilise the Pension Credit calculator on GOV.UK. You'll need to provide details of your:
earnings, benefits and pensions
savings and investments
Alternatively, pensioners can contact the Pension Credit helpline directly to make a claim on 0800 99 1234 - lines are open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full details on GOV.UK here.
Financial help for pensioner households in 2025
Financial help on the way during 2025/26 includes:
Winter Heating Payment (£59.75) - cash payment issued by the Scottish Government
Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (£100 - £305) - cash payment issued by the Scottish Government
Winter Fuel Payment (£100 - £300) - cash payments issued by DWP to pensioners in England and Wales only
Warm Home Discount (£150) - paid directly from DWP to energy providers and usually added as credit to customer's electricity account
DWP Christmas Bonus (£10) - issued by DWP
Someone aged between 66 and 79, living in Scotland in receipt of Pension Credit, will receive £273.15 from the three cash payments before the end of March 2026. However, most of these will be issued before the end of this year.
This is made up of:
£203.40 from the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, due to be issued on November 30
£59.75 from the Winter Heating Payment
£10 DWP Christmas Bonus
Someone over 80, living in Scotland in receipt of Pension Credit, will receive £374.86 from the three cash payments before the end of March 2026.
This is made up of:
£305.10 from the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment
£59.75 from the Winter Heating Payment
£10 DWP Christmas Bonus
Winter Heating Payment (£59.75) - Scotland only
Payments were issued in December last year and expected to be around the same time in 2025.
You may qualify for Winter Heating Payment automatically if you get one of these benefits:
Pension Credit
Universal Credit - full guide on eligibility here
Income Support or Income based Jobseeker's Allowance - full guide on eligibility here
Income Related Employment Support Allowance - full guide on eligibility here
Support for Mortgage Interest - full guide on eligibility here
The qualifying week for this year's payment will be in early November, typically the first full week - we will update this article once more details have been released. Find out more on the dedicated pages on MYGOV.SCOT here.
Pension Age Winter Heating Payment - between£100 - £305.10
Every person over State Pension age living in Scotland will automatically receive a one-off heating payment of at least £100 by St Andrew's Day on November 30 - even if they are not in receipt of a means-tested benefit such as Pension Credit.
Those aged between 66 and 79 in receipt of Pension Credit will be paid £203.40
Those aged 80 and over in receipt of Pension Credit will be paid £305.10
To be eligible for the 2025 payment, you must have been born before September 22, 1959.
During the qualifying week - September 15-21 - you must also:
live in Scotland, or an eligible country abroad
get at least one other, specific benefit on at least one day of the qualifying week
Those benefits are:
Pension Credit
Universal Credit
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
Income Support
Payment rates
Those aged between 66 and 79 in receipt of Pension Credit will be paid £203.40
Those aged 80 and over in receipt of Pension Credit will be paid £305.10
Winter Fuel Payments - between £200 and £300 (not Scotland)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that the 2025/26 Winter Fuel Payment will be issued to everyone born before September 22, 1959.
Payments of £200 will be issued automatically to those aged between 66 and 79, while those aged 80 or over will receive £300. Nobody needs to claim the payment.
Pensioners also need to have an annual income of under £35,000 to qualify for the payment this winter. Details of an option to opt out of the payments will be announced in due course.
Full details on how much people will receive from DWP - depending on their household age and living arrangements - will be published by the DWP on GOV.UK here shortly.
Warm Home Discount - £150 paid to energy provider
The Warm Home Discount Scheme for winter 2025 to 2026 usually opens in October and will give people on certain benefits £150 off their electricity bill.
The money is paid directly by the DWP to energy suppliers between October and March. Eligible households may also be able to get the discount off their gas bill instead - if their supplier provides them with both gas and electricity, just contact them once the scheme opens to find out.
If you're a credit customer the £150 will be added to your electricity account and if you're on Pay As You Go or Prepayment, you'll be sent a voucher that you can use to top-up your meter.
Eligibility rules are changing this year to provide the support to more households - you can read about this here.
We will update this article with details for this winter as soon as they are published. You can read more about the changes to eligibility on GOV.UK here.
DWP Christmas Bonus - £10
The bonus is a one-off, tax-free £10 payment made to people in receipt of State Pension or those claiming certain other benefits during the qualifying week - usually the first full week of December.
Nobody needs to apply for the extra £10 as it should automatically go into the account where you usually receive your State Pension or benefit payment. It is made as a separate payment, independent of your scheduled State Pension or benefit payment, so it may arrive on a different day.
Eligible benefits
Adult Disability Payment
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Carer Support Payment
Child Disability Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
Disability Living Allowance
Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
Mobility Supplement
Pension Credit - the guarantee element
Pension Age Disability Payment
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
War Widow's Pension
Widowed Mother's Allowance
Widowed Parent's Allowance
Widow's Pension
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
35 minutes ago
- Scotsman
New visuals of £35m George Street revamp in Edinburgh revealed as council bold on cost
Estimates for moving pipes and cables on Edinburgh's George Street are expected to reduce. Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The cost of Edinburgh's most high-profile street upgrade scheme is expected to fall further as the plans take shape, the city council has confidently predicted. A major revamp of George Street to remove parking and most traffic is now estimated at £35 million compared to nearly £39.5m last September following 'more detailed and accurate costings'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A new visualisation of the completed George Street scheme | City of Edinburgh Council But council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said the total was anticipated to reduce again when more precise costs for moving pipes and cables became known. This is because utility firms had produced high estimates for such work elsewhere, which had been significantly cut, the council said. It is expected to amount to some £8m. The optimism comes in contrast to cost overruns and delays to the utility diversion work ahead of tram line construction more than a decade ago. But council officials said the scale of survey work on the George Street scheme gave them added confidence. Mr Jenkinson said designs for the project - illustrated in these new visuals - were now complete, but several approval stages remained before construction started after the festival in August 2027. Completion is due three years later. Mr Jenkinson said the revamp would be funded from external sources such as the Scottish Government, and the city's visitor levy from next year, but it was too early to bid for money. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The scheme, which will be considered by councillors on June 26, will include more space for pedestrians, including seating areas in 'dwell zones' and an improved cycle lane. The latter was omitted from the City Centre West East Link segregated bike lanes opened last year between Roseburn and York Place. Vehicle access will be restricted to taxis, and delivery vehicles at certain times with 'hostile vehicle mitigation' bollards controlling access at all entry points. Four trees will be planted at both the Charlotte and St Andrew Square ends of the street, along with 'low-level planting' and new drainage. Mr Jenkinson said: 'A lot of the cost is diverting utilities such as gas, water and power. As we go through the process and have much more detailed conversations with the utility companies, I certainly think the costings of the project are more likely to decrease than increase because we'll have more accurate figures for how much work is involved. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The costings are going in one direction - and that's down, not up. There is still some time to go. We will not put spades in the ground this summer. 'It's important that predominantly the funding for George Street will come external from the council. There are various pots of money we will be looking to bid for. 'Council tax payers of Edinburgh won't directly be funding the development and I think that's quite an important point. It's a unique opportunity to do some quite forward thinking in the centre of the World Heritage Site in one of the most important streets not only n Edinburgh, but Scotland.' But he warned the council must get it right first time. Mr Jenksinson said: 'I don't want to be in a position to have to finish the job further down the line. The impact of that would be pretty negative. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'George Street is a car park. Parking will be removed. There will be restrictions on vehicle movement. The details are being worked through, but it will predominantly be pedestrian.'
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Principal of Queen's College accuses Rachel Reeves of damaging female equality after her school fees VAT hike forces all-girl schools to admit boys
The Principal of Queen's College in London has accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of damaging female equality and opportunities after her private school fees VAT hike. Richard Tillett's letter to the Times told how one private school within an hour of the Chancellor's own constituency has been forced to accept boys to a previously girls only school from September 2026. According to the principal, Wakefield Girls' High School is soon to start welcoming boys almost 150 years after it was founded in 1878. Mr Tillett added that another local school, Harrogate College, had taken the same decision, while a third, Queen Margaret's School in York, is closing its doors altogether. Writing in the Times, he said: 'All-girls' education matters, and the state does not do enough to provide it. 'Girls' schools regularly dominate the top of the national league tables, and all the evidence shows that, if girls are educated separately from boys, they achieve more highly, do more science, participate in more sport and have greater levels of self-confidence. 'Also last Friday the High Court judged that the imposition of VAT on school fees was legal. 'Whether it is moral is a different story. When will the Chancellor, who went to an all-girls' school, realise the damage that her policy is doing to the female equality agenda?' Mr Tillett, who himself attended a private school before going on to study at the University of Cambridge, had his comments on the Times' letter page. Queen Margaret's in York told parents last week it would be closing after 125 years of providing education for girls aged 11 to 18. Labour's introduction of VAT on school fees, as well as "increased national insurance and pension contributions, the removal of charitable-status business rates relief, and rising costs for the upkeep and operation of our estate", were all behind the closure, a statement from the school said. Chair of the Board of governors Terry Burt said there were simply not enough children enrolled in September to continue operating past the end of term, and the school will close on July 5. A notice to appoint an administrator has been filed with Companies House. The Labour government moved quickly after winning last year's election to introduce VAT on private schools fees, which had previously been exempt from the tax - essentially hiking fees by 20 percent. They were warned this could price middle class families out of the market, but a High Court ruling this week ruled in Starmer's favour. The judicial review claim, heard earlier this year, aimed to have the 20 per cent tax declared 'incompatible' with human rights law. However, in a decision handed down on Friday, judges rejected all claims, despite agreeing with some of the arguments. The controversial tax, pledged in Labour's manifesto, came into force in January this year. Three groups of families – most of whom are anonymous – joined private schools in bringing a legal challenge against the policy. Their lawyers argued the tax is a breach of children's right to an education under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The various families also said it was 'discriminatory' – either because their child has special educational needs (SEN), has a preference for a religious education, or because they need an all-girls environment. But Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain concluded the VAT policy was 'proportionate' in its aim to raise extra revenue for state schools. They added Parliament ultimately had the right make the decision. A government spokesperson said: 'Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8bn a year, helping to support public services including the 94% of pupils who attend state schools.'
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fears legalising assisted dying may 'break the NHS' and lead to cuts in care as minister confirms there is no extra money for helping people die
Legalising assisted dying could be a' Trojan horse that breaks the NHS ', a leading opponent warned today after it was revealed that the health service has no money set aside for setting up a suicide service. Dame Siobhain McDonagh warned that an assisted dying service could 'rob our stretched NHS of much needed resources' after Wes Streeting spoke in the Commons. The Health Secretary told MPs no money has yet been allocated for the setting up of an assisted dying service, ahead of a vote expected on Friday on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Last year, Mr Streeting said there were 'choices and trade-offs', adding 'any new service comes at the expense of other competing pressures and priorities'. It has prompted fears that the money needed to get a legalised euthanasia system off the ground could eat into the NHS's finances. Health was one of the major winners from Rachel Reeves ' spending review last week but bosses have warned that even the annual £30bn annual funding she allocated is not enough. Dame Siobhain said: 'It's now clear that the assisted dying Bill will rob our stretched NHS of much needed resources and could become the trojan horse that breaks the NHS, the proudest institution and the proudest measure in our Labour Party's history. 'We already know from the impact assessment that this new system could cost tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds making our mission to cut waiting times and rebuild our NHS harder.' It is expected MPs will have a vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday, which could see it either progress to the House of Lords or fall. If it goes ahead Friday will be the first time the Bill has been voted on in its entirety since November's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55. While supporters of the Bill say it is coming back to the Commons with better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it to date, opponents claim the process has been rushed and that the Bill is now weaker than it was when first introduced last year. A key change was the replacing of a High Court judge requirement for sign-off of applications from terminally ill people, with a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and the three-member panel. While the Bill has the backing of some MPs from medical backgrounds, concerns have also been raised by the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists. Disability campaigners have voiced worries about coercion and how vulnerable people could be caught up in any new law, although the proposed legislation is supported by MP and disability rights advocate Marie Tidball as well as former director of public prosecutions Sir Max Hill. This morning Mr Streeting was asked by Labour MP Katrina Murray, who like him voted no in November, whether the NHS has the money to fund assisted dying on top of its other priorities. She said: 'If passed, the assisted dying Bill would make thousands of terminally ill people every year eligible to end their lives on the NHS. 'Does our health service have the money to fund this service as well as its priority of bringing down waiting lists?' Mr Streeting responded: 'Of course, the Government is neutral (on assisted dying). It's for the House to decide. 'There isn't money allocated to set up the service in the Bill at present, but it's for members of this House and the Lords, should the Bill proceed, to decide whether or not to proceed and that's a decision that this Government will respect either way.' MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines. An impact assessment published by the Government last month estimated that the establishment of a Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner and the three-member expert panels would cost an average of between £10.9 million and £13.6 million per year, although overall implementation costs of a service were not possible to work out yet. While noting that cutting end-of-life care costs 'is not stated as an objective of the policy', the assessment estimated that such costs could be reduced by as much as an estimated £10 million in the first year and almost £60 million after 10 years. Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater has said the proposed legislation is about giving dying people choice at the end of their lives, saying it is 'about the human cost' and 'not about pounds and pence'. She has described her Bill as the 'most robust piece of legislation in this area in the world'. Dozens of Labour MPs called for Friday's overall vote to be delayed, asking Commons Leader Lucy Powell for more time to scrutinise a Bill they say is 'perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation that has appeared before the House in generations'.
