An "attack on the most vulnerable"

Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, the campaigning organisation for older people in Scotland, is the latest group to condemn chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to means test winter fuel payments.

Rose Jackson, SPF chair said it was no surprise that pensioners were being stripped of what they have worked for and are entitled to.

The UK government is facing fierce criticism from the third sector after announcing the controversial proposal - a move which could leave two million elderly citizens cold at home this winter.

Jackson said: “Too many older people, four in 10, don’t apply for pension credit, due in part to the complicated system and the indignity surrounding it, but politicians know these figures but continue to exploit this no end.

“Already those pensioners on the cusp of losing out on pension credit, perhaps by £1 or £2, will see themselves worse off than those who receive it – and they promised us a fairer system?

“Many pensioners have already lost access to their free TV licence and now this, the government should be hanging their heads in shame. Any offset on those who don’t need the payment should be made through taxation not tampering with universal benefits in their first few weeks in office – this is a dangerous path they are treading and doesn’t bode well for what’s to come.

“The UK is already near the bottom of the heap when it comes to state pension and welfare provision for older people, sitting at approximately 25^th out of 28 across Europe, this decision could well see the UK plummet all the way to the bottom.”

The forum said energy price projections forecast an increase of approximately 10% this winter therefore pensioners will also have to find the extra money to plug the ever widening gap in their finances. 

Jackson continued: “It’s difficult to see that pensioners are being penalised to maintain the U.K. government’s pledge to cut National Insurance rates – why does it always have to be that when changing one thing, it then has to become an attack on the most vulnerable? 

“I seriously think that the government will have to take a long hard look at their history books and realise that the winter fuel allowance was put in place by them as a replacement for a percentage state pension rise – it’s not just something that can be withdrawn on a whim when they see fit.”

Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, echoed these fears and warned: “Our initial estimate is that as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in trouble as a result – yet at the other end of the spectrum well-off older people will scarcely notice the difference – a social injustice.

“Means-testing winter fuel payments this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision, and one that will potentially jeopardise their health as well as their finances – the last thing they or the NHS needs.”