Winter fuel payment update as chancellor confirms benefit change timeline
Winter fuel payment update as chancellor confirms benefit change timeline
More people will be eligible for the winter fuel payment under Rachel Reeves' new plans
Rachel Reeves has confirmed that changes to the unpopular winter fuel cut will come in time for winter. The chancellor also confirmed that more pensioners will receive the winter fuel allowance this year but payments will not be universal.
Ms Reeves told reporters at a press conference that "more people will get winter fuel payment this winter", adding that further details will be announced "as soon as we possibly can".
She said: "We have listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test and so we will be making changes to that. They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter.
"People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter."
Rachel Reeves has confirmed more pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment this year
(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News )
Meanwhile pensions minister Torsten Bell told MPs that while more pensioners will be eligible there is no prospect of returning to universal winter fuel payments.
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Speaking to the Work and Pensions Committee Mr Bell, who is the MP for Swansea West, 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."
Prime Ministe Keir Starmer 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. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
The decision to means test the previously-universal payment was one of the first announcements by Ms 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 Mr Starmer said could result in the partial reversal of the measure.
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In July 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 10million.
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