DWP says 11.6 million people who received payment last year may not get it in 2024

The DWP and new Labour Party government have shaken up eligibility for Winter Fuel Payment.

11.6 million people who received a £300 payment from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) last year are at risk of NOT getting it this year. The DWP and new Labour Party government have shaken up eligibility for Winter Fuel Payment.

New DWP figures show Winter Fuel Allowances were paid to 11.6m, up 214,000 from the 11.4 million in 2022-23. Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling slammed the latest DWP figures, saying: "Hundreds of thousands more pensioners are now set to lose out on these desperately needed payments that protect so many from having to choose between heating and eating.

"Cutting these payments for pensioners, which include millions who are just scraping by and are now worried about how they will get through the winter, is totally wrong. It is not too late for this new Government to change course and Liberal Democrat MPs will push them every step of the way to reverse these cuts and protect vulnerable pensioners this winter."

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The Unite union has accused Labour conference organisers of seeking to silence them by scheduling a vote that could condemn cuts to winter fuel payments for the very end of the gathering. Unite and the Communication Workers Union co-sponsored the motion.

It calls for ministers to reverse the removal of the allowance from all but the poorest pensioners. The chair of the conference arrangements committee (CAC), Lynne Morris, faced boos and heckles from some delegates after she announced the delay.

“This is a really busy conference and we are trying to accommodate as much as we can, and I’m going to take this back straight to CAC and I’ll come back to you with an answer asap,” she said to the Conference, calling on the hecklers to “show a little bit of respect for each other”.