Government update on £300 Winter Fuel Payment as legal bid could see axe overturned

Couples are expected to be 'disproportionately hit'

An update on the Winter Fuel Payment has been issued by the Government. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has decided to cut the benefit, which handed up to £300 to more than 11 million pensioners.

The move has sparked outrage as many people are now due to miss out on the cash. According to new documents, elderly couples will be the worst off.

A judicial review in the Court of Sessions, Scotland’s highest court, by Govan Law Centre has been launched. Govan Law Centre argues that the Government did not carry out a detailed equality impact assessment.

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This law requires public bodies to consider how their decisions and actions will affect people with different 'protected characteristics' including age and disability. If successful, it could still be paid this year.

In a parliamentary question, Labour's Rachael Maskell asked Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting if he had asked the Chief Medical Officer to carry out an impact assessment of introducing means-testing for the Winter Fuel Payment. Now, Andrew Gwynne - the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Health and Social Care - has responded.

He said an equality analysis published for the first time last month shows how few people will be able to get the money. It also lays bare how few extra people the Government is expecting to claim Pensions Credit - the gateway benefit which leads to the Winter Fuel Payment.

In his response to Ms Maskell, Mr Gwynne said: "We will continue to stand behind vulnerable households this winter. Support includes delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households from October 2024, extending the Household Support Fund with £421 million, to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families, and ensuring around 1.3 million households in England and Wales will continue to receive up to £300 in Winter Fuel Payments.

"Through our commitment to protect the triple lock, over 12 million pensioners will benefit, with many expected to see their State Pension increase by more than £1,000 over the next five years. The fuel poverty strategy for England, Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England, was published in February 2021.

"The 2021 strategy is currently under review. The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Energy and Net Zero to ensure that fuel poor and health vulnerable households are supported." It is estimated that 880,000 pensioners who would be eligible for Pensions Credit do not claim it.

The equality analysis also says that officials believe the extra take up of Pensions Credit this year will amount to about 100,000 people - meaning 780,000 will still miss out. It reads: "This policy will reduce the numbers entitled from around 12m to 1.7m in the 1st year, dropping to 1.2m by the end of the scorecard period."

In terms of those impacted the most, it says: "This policy will have the highest proportional impact on couples, and a marginally greater impact on men than women. Older pensioners are less likely to be affected, but those which are affected will lose larger amounts."

The document adds: "Those most affected by the policy are disproportionately likely to be in couples rather than single, and marginally disproportionately likely to be male. This is because these groups are less likely to be on the lowest incomes.

"However, across all assessed characteristics those affected by this policy greatly outnumber those unaffected."