Sir Keir Starmer won’t be returning winter fuel payments to all pensioners despite Labour’s U-turn on cuts, a minister admitted today.
The Prime Minister last month pledged to partially undo his controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments – worth up to £300 – for millions of pensioners.
He told MPs on 21 May he wants to ensure ‘more pensioners are eligible’ for the payments ‘as the economy improves’.
But pensions minister Torsten Bell this morning revealed there was no prospect of returning to a universal winter fuel payment in England and Wales.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves later offered some relief by confirming changes to the payments would be made in time for more retirees to benefit this winter.
Winter fuel payments had previously been available to all pensioners prior to Ms Reeves’ controversial announcement, made last July, that it was being means-tested.
As she blamed a £22billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances, the chancellor said handouts would be restricted to only those on pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
The Chancellor’s decision to axe winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners sparked a furious backlash and dire warnings from charities about the impact of the cut.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell ruled out winter fuel payments being returned to all pensioners in England and Wales
The cash had previously been available to all pensioners prior to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ controversial announcement, made last July, that it was being means-tested
Sir Keir Starmer last month announced a partial U-turn and said he wants to ensure ‘more pensioners are eligible’ for the payments ‘as the economy improves’
Sir Keir’s announcement of a partial U-turn last month came after Labour lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election to Reform UK and suffered a poor set of local election results.
Labour activists said the decision to drastically pare back winter fuel payments came up repeatedly on the doorstep during those contests.
Speaking in Rochdale this morning, Ms Reeves confirmed the Government would alter the level of means-testing in time for more pensioners to get payments this coming winter.
But the Chancellor dodged on whether an announcement on the details would come at her spending review next week.
Earlier, speaking to the House of Commons’ Work and Pensions Committee, Mr Bell said the Government was still deciding how to make more pensioners eligible for the cash.
But he ruled out winter fuel payments being returned to all retirees.
‘Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no,’ he said.
‘The principle I think most people, 95 per cent 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.’
Asked what work had been done with HMRC to assess the practicality of recouping payments from higher rate taxpayers, as happens with child benefit, Mr Bell said: ‘We’re looking at all of the policy options for how this eligibility can be extended, and when I’ve got more to tell you about that I absolutely will.’
The pensions minister also insisted there was ‘no differential effects on their health outcomes’ last winter for those particularly affected by the changes to winter fuel payments.
‘No one is asking people to wait for changes to the policy on winter fuel payment for help with energy bills,’ he added.
‘We’ve already been getting on with making sure we’re extending the household support fund, raising the state pension significantly above inflation, getting on with the longer term answers in terms of a warm homes programme.
‘Help is happening all over the Government’s policy agenda but in this particular area we do want to help more pensioners in future.’
In Rochdale, Ms Reeves told reporters that more pensioners would get winter fuel payments ‘this coming winter’.
‘I had to make decisions last year to restore sound public finances,’ the Chancellor said, as she defended her intitial cut.
‘And that involved a number of difficult decisions around welfare, taxation and also public spending.
‘Including the decision to means-test winter fuel payments so only the poorest pensioners – those on pension credit – got it.
‘We have now put our public finances on a firmer footing, the economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns people had about the level of the means-test.
‘And so we will be making changes to that, they will be in place so pensioners are paid this coming winter.
‘We’ll announce the detail of that and the level of that as soon as we possibly can.
‘But people should be in no doubt the means-test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter.’
Yet Ms Reeves refused to confirm if she would announce the details of Labour’s U-turn at her spending review on 11 June.
Reform leader Nigel Farage recently vowed to fully reverse the winter fuel payment cuts made by Labour.
But, despite campaigning against Labour’s cuts to winter fuel payments, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has not promised to return it to every retiree.
‘I’ve always said millionaires should not get the winter fuel payment,’ she said last month.
‘That is not right. But we shouldn’t be taking it away from people who end up below the breadline after it’s gone.
‘So what we need is a system that can make sure that all of those people who do need it get it.’
Responding to Ms Reeves’ comments this morning, Liberal Democrat MP Daisy Cooper – her party’s Treasury spokesperson – said: ‘This whole debacle has caused needless misery for millions of pensioners.
‘We will look at the details of the changes at the spending review next week.
‘In the mean time the Chancellor should apologise to all those pensioners who had to freeze this winter because of this senseless policy.’
