Winter fuel payments cut could drive 100,000 pensioners into poverty

The Government has published internal modelling that shows it expects it's controversial policy to means test Winter Fuel Payments will drive between 50 and 100,000 extra pensioners into poverty.

The welfare secretary, Liz Kendall, revealed the figures in a letter to parliament's work and pensions committee.

Conservatives immediately seized on the admission.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “Finally the dam breaks and we get to see what Labour have known all along...

“Clearly Keir Starmer feels like that’s a price worth paying to make a political point. But I don’t think those pensioners would agree with him.”

Government sources said the calculation had emerged from "routine policy advice" but argued that it failed to take into account the extra support that was being provided to those who need it.

Speaking at a press conference in Brazil, Keir Starmer stressed the areas the analysis did not cover - including an extension to the Household Support Fund, Warm Home Discount or the £470 rise to the state pension in April.

However, the figures do underline the way in which the policy shift is hitting a number of pensioners who are struggling financially.

The Government's argument for means testing Winter Fuel payments was that it could not justify paying the benefits to rich pensioners in such tricky economic times.

So they restricted pay outs to only those who claim pension credit. However, the shift has shone a light on the fact that only 63% of those who qualify for pension credit claim it, meaning plenty of poorer pensioners are in line to miss out.

Starmer argued that the numbers also did not account for the Government's drive to get more people to sign up for pension credit, and in doing so also qualify for Winter Fuel Payments once more.

The actual figure for the number of extra pensioners in poverty jumps between £50,000 and £100,000 for each year up to 2029/30 - because the numbers are rounded up to the closest £100,000 - so the actual figure is somewhere in between.

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