Latest news with #meansTesting
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Millionaire' pensioners will not get winter fuel payments
'Millionaires' will not be eligible for winter fuel payments this year even after the Prime Minister's about-turn on cuts to the scheme, the pensions minister has told MPs. Torsten Bell said there will be no return to the system under which all pensioners were given as much as £300 per year to help cover the cost of heating in the cold months. 'Is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment? The answer is no,' he told the Commons work and pensions committee. 'Most people – 95pc of people – agree that it is not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundred pounds to millionaires. But we will be looking at making more pensioners eligible.' Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, sparked a backlash last summer when she announced restrictions on payments shortly after Labour won the general election. The party had not made any reference to the idea in its manifesto or election campaign, but the policy was cited as evidence Labour was serious about reining in excessive public borrowing. Mr Bell declined to set out the exact terms of the loosened means test which will replace the current system, under which pensioners only receive the winter fuel payments if they also claim pension credit. He also said that income, not just wealth, could form a part of the qualifying criteria. 'We are committed to the principle that there should be some means testing, and that those on the highest incomes shouldn't be receiving winter fuel payments,' he said. 'Fairness is an important part of it. My priority is those who are on lower incomes but have missed out.' More than a fifth of all households aged over 65 have assets worth £1m or more, according to the Office for National Statistics, including their homes, pensions and other wealth. Mr Bell's comments indicate that, if millionaire status is the qualifying criteria, more than 2.5m pensioner households stand to miss out on the restoration of winter fuel payments as a result. Baroness Altmann, who served as a pensions minister under the Conservatives, said this would risk penalising those who are well off on paper but have little cash to cover energy bills. She said: 'Very often people are asset rich and income poor. Just because you live in a house worth £1m in London, which you might have bought for £20,000, does not mean you have got plenty of money to spend. You can still be on a very low income. 'If you have big expenses for a house, if your house is not very well insulated, and especially if you are poorer and have not been able to spend a lot of money on updating, then they will need more money for heating than younger families.' She favours offering winter fuel payments to all pensioners whose income is below the higher rate tax threshold of £50,271 per year. 'The most logical decision would be to treat it like child benefit, and if you pay higher rate tax then you do not get it,' Baroness Altmann said. 'If you pay higher rate tax, the Inland Revenue knows, so could adjust your tax code or find some other way to make sure you do not get the money.' It came as Ms Reeves confirmed that the new arrangements will be in place to give the payments to more pensioners this winter than last. 'People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter,' the Chancellor said.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Pensioners could have their winter payments restored from NEXT WEEK after Labour's U-turn
Winter fuel payments could be restored to all but the wealthiest pensioners as soon as next week, Keir Starmer hinted yesterday. The Prime Minister, who announced a major U-turn on the controversial cut last month, suggested the details could be unveiled in next week's comprehensive spending review. Ministers are looking at a range of options for restoring the payment to most pensioners following a furious public backlash and warnings from Labour MPs that means-testing the vital payment has hurt the party at the polls. Under the leading option, the payment would be restored to all pensioners except those who pay higher rate tax. Around 10million pensioners lost the payment last year after Rachel Reeves used her first major act in government to restrict it to those with incomes of less than £1,000 a month. Campaigners have warned failure to say who would have their payments restored and when is causing further anxiety for pensioners. Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, said it would be 'completely unacceptable' to leave pensioners in limbo until the autumn Budget, as No 10 originally suggested. 'Leaving it to the Budget would be far too late to get payments out this winter, which would be seen as yet another betrayal,' he said. Sir Keir declined to comment on the detail of the proposed changes yesterday. But he indicated the Chancellor could release the plans next week. The PM told BBC Radio Four's Today programme ministers 'need to be absolutely clear where the money is coming from' before they set out full details of the U-turn. He added: 'The sooner we have clarity on that, the better', but said there were still 'lots of moving parts' before the review is finalised.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
One third of people back restoring winter fuel payments to all pensioners
One third of Britons think winter fuel payments should be restored to all pensioners, a survey has suggested after Sir Keir Starmer's partial U-turn on restricting the benefit. The Prime Minister said this week that he wanted to look at widening eligibility for the payments worth up to £300 after Labour limited who could receive the payment last year. But officials have not said how many more pensioners would be eligible or if the policy would be altered in time for next winter. A YouGov poll carried out on Thursday showed 44% said the benefit should still be means tested but offered to more pensioners than it was currently, while some 7% wanted the policy kept as it was now. And 33% backed reverting to the previous system where it was universal. The decision to means test the payment was one of the first announcements by Chancellor Rachel Reeves after Labour's landslide election victory last year, and has been widely blamed for the party's collapse in support. Sir Keir was meeting with devolved national and regional leaders on Friday. Scotland's First Minister John Swinney was expected to call for the winter fuel payment to be fully restored for pensioners during bilateral talks with the Prime Minister. Welsh Labour leader Baroness Eluned Morgan said she wanted the 'majority of pensioners' to get the winter fuel allowance. Asked on the BBC's Political Thinking podcast if she would back taking it away from high-rate taxpayers but leaving it in place for everyone else, she said: 'That's probably where I'd be.'
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Budget 2025: High earners can't get KiwiSaver credit - but they can get the pension
National Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone A government decision to means-and-income-test support available to children and younger people, but not alter the eligibility for NZ Super, has prompted questions from some commentators. As part of Budget 2025, the government announced it would income-test eligibility for the Best Start payment in the first year of a child's life. This will affect about 60,000 families who previously would have been able to access the money, before being income tested in the child's second and third year. Teenagers who are receiving JobSeeker benefits will be assessed against a " parental assistance test " which will determine whether their parents could provide them financial support. The member tax credit in KiwiSaver will be halved and not available to anyone earning over $180,000. But anyone earning at that level is still entitled to the full NZ Super payment. "As one of my team members commented - this Budget was all about taking away from young people and giving to the older generation [through] extra cancer treatment, rates relief for Gold Card members and continuation of NZ Super," said Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura KiwiSaver. "For young people, we are now means testing KiwiSaver contributions, Best Start payments and not providing welfare to those under the age of 20." He said younger people would also be affected by a lower level of investment in infrastructure. "The budget is described as a budget forcing people to pay their own way where they can. Though NZ Super remains untouched, despite hundreds of thousands of Kiwis receiving it that do not need it." He said NZ Super should be means tested in the same way but it was not politically feasible for the government to do so. "Young people need to be better at voting to drive through change that benefits them." Shamubeel Eaqub, chief economist at Simplicity, said it was interesting that the KiwiSaver incentive would not be available to people earning more than $180,000 but no such test applied to the pension, which costs nearly $25 billion a year. Asked on Nine to Noon her thoughts on means-testing superannuation, Nicola Willis said it was not the government's policy. "We remain committed to universal New Zealand superannuation." She said National had not yet had a caucus discussion on changes to superannuation. "But I'm on the record at the last election campaign that we campaigned for the age of eligibility for New Zealand superannuation to be lifted. That was to make New Zealand superannuation more affordable, and more sustainable, and to reflect the fact that New Zealanders are working for much, much longer. We campaigned on that because I believe it was the right thing to do… Labour weaponised that against us." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Why Starmer had no choice but to U-turn on winter fuel payments
After months of ruling out a U-turn over the government'scontroversial decision to means-test the pensioners' winter fuel allowance, Keir Starmer confirmed a retreat at Prime Minister's Questions today. He said the government wants to ensure 'more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments' and said it would look at the £11,500 income threshold at which they lose it. Ministers could decide to restore the allowance in full, but I suspect they will stick to their line that millionaires who don't need it shouldn't get it. I'm told the chancellor instigated the rethink, belying her reputation for stubbornness – and that 10 Downing Street, after initial caution, is now coming round to the idea. Polls suggest an about-turn would be seen as strong rather than weak. Why now? The main reason: the decision has become emblematic of the government – and voters hate it. Its potency lasted much longer than ministers expected when Reeves announced it last July and it was a big factor in Labour's poor showing at this month's local elections. I think there's also an unstated reason. The Labour backbench revolt against the other cut which damaged the party at the elections – the £5bn cut to disability and sickness benefits – is growing and more than 100 potential rebels now have a chance of defeating the government. A concession on winter fuel would be warmly welcomed by Labour MPs and help ministers survive the rebellion on disability payments. The rethink on winter fuel could come when Reeves unveils her government-wide spending review on 11 June – which, conveniently, could be just before the Commons votes on the benefit cuts. Tweaking the winter fuel allowance – or even restoring it in full, at a cost of about £1.5bn – would be cheaper economically and politically than being defeated on the benefit cuts, which would blow a big hole in Reeves's permanent struggle to meet her fiscal rules and send a bad signal to the financial markets. Although Reeves's decision on winter fuel was designed to appeal to those markets, they would probably not be spooked by a partial retreat now, while a defeat over disability benefit cuts would raise doubts about the government's ability to take tough decisions to balance the nation's books. Keir Starmer knows he needs to throw a bone to his unhappy backbenchers, notably the newbies who fear becoming one-term wonders. 'Something has gotta give,' one party insider told me. There could be a separate concession on child poverty, with Labour MPs clamouring for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted. It's unlikely to be abolished, but could be softened. However, ministers are sticking to the controversial disability cuts. Today Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, told the IPPR think tank that unless spending is focused on those with the greatest need, 'the welfare state won't be there for those who really need it in future." While she said rebel Labour MPs were right to raise the issue, it was 'not sustainable' to have 1,000 new awards of the personal independence payment (PIP) a week, 'the equivalent of adding a city the size of Leicester every year."Kendall insisted her cuts are about reform – and getting people back into work – rather than saving money. Yet the Resolution Foundation and Learning and Work Institute think tanks estimate fewer than half as many people (up to 100,000) will be helped into jobs by the government's £1bn back-to-work programme than will fall into poverty after the cuts (250,000). The benefit losses will kick in before the jobs scheme and ministers do not want to publish their estimate of how many people will take up work. They should come clean before the Commons vote. Doubts about Reeves's strategy are not confined to the Labour backbenchers. There's a heated debate inside the cabinet as negotiations over the spending review come to a head. Today a leaked memo showed that Angela Rayner proposed up to £4bn of tax rises on the better off ahead of the March spring statement to avoid the welfare cuts. The deputy prime minister is one of several ministers trying to protect their department from further cuts. Her allies fear a squeeze to her local authority and housing budgets would make it impossible to hit the government's target to build 1.5 million homes in five years. The chancellor did not act on Rayner's proposals. But despite a little more optimism at the Treasury about the economy after it grew by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of this year, some of Rayner's tax-raising ideas could well be back on the table when Reeves draws up her October Budget. That might win Rayner brownie points among Labour MPs for fighting the good fight – and among the grassroots members who will one day elect Starmer's successor. Just saying (again)....
