This article supplied by the National Pensioners Convention:
Britain’s biggest older people's organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has criticised the government for breaking pre-election promises by threatening to remove the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners.
Reports in the media have suggested that ministers are considering a number of options including:
- Raising the age of entitlement to the allowance from 60 to 66 earlier than has already been proposed in 2020
- Paying the allowance at 75, in line with the TV licence
- Means-testing the allowance and paying it only to those on benefits
Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: "The winter death rate amongst older people is a national scandal and getting worse. Last winter over 36,700 pensioners died of cold related illnesses – a staggering 13 pensioners every hour. Yet the government is now considering taking the winter fuel allowance away from millions of households which will only make matters worse.”
“This issue really goes to the heart of the debate as to whether the welfare state should be available to everyone. We have seen in pensions and care that a means-tested system is not as effective or efficient as a universal benefit in getting help to those who need it most. Of course wealthy pensioners get the winter fuel allowance as well as the very poorest – but the fairest way of dealing with the issue is to claw back that money using the taxation system.”
“Up to 3m pensioner households are already spending more than 10% of their income on fuel bills, and are living in fuel poverty. What older people need now is more money – not less. They need to be reassured that when the cold weather comes they will not be financially punished for keeping warm in winter. The government must give them confidence that they will be able to pay their bills by immediately ruling out any changes to the winter fuel allowance.”
