Winter fuel: 'We’ll choose between heating and eating'

Pensioner Clare Wratten will miss out on a £200 winter fuel payment this winter

Cuts to winter fuel payments mean a couple will choose between heating and eating this year, one of them said.

Clare Wratten, 67, told Worcester City councillors she and her partner, 62, were two of millions across the country being "punished" by the changes.

In July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said future payments would only be made to those getting pension credit or other means-tested help. Couples have not been eligible for pension credit until they both reach state pension age since 2019.

The council's Labour leader Lynn Denham said there was help available. The council had maintained its own Discretionary Welfare Assistance Scheme to help people with costs, she added.

"We won't be able to heat our house. We weren't able to last winter... we only put the heating on when it was below freezing," Ms Wratten, of Rainbow Hill, said.

In previous winters she said she had received a winter fuel payment of £200.

“I am currently receiving a small state pension but due to the fact that my partner is not of pensionable age I am unable to claim pension credit," she said.

“Due to health reasons, my partner is unable to work or claim universal credit, leaving us in a particularly precarious position.

“This gap in the system is affecting thousands of pensioners like myself."

Many pensioners were also being put off applying for pension credit by a 22-page form, she added.

Following changes made by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, future payments will only be made to those getting pension credit or other means-tested help

Worcester pensioners needed to be made aware of the benefits they may be entitled to, the council said.

Liberal Democrat councillor Karen Holmes said nearly 90% of pensioners currently eligible for winter fuel payments in Worcester would no longer be able to claim them. She agreed the paperwork for pension credit “can be daunting”.

Green councillor Elena Round, also chief officer at Dial South Worcestershire, said voluntary advice agencies were already facing “unprecedented demand and requests for help” because of the “utterly appalling policy”.

Labour councillor Elaine Willmore highlighted how the government had announced an extension of the household support fund.

The money will be distributed to councils, who can use the scheme to give struggling households small payments.

City councillors voted to commence an awareness campaign to encourage people to apply for pension credit, and to find ways to help those not eligible.

The winter fuel payment changes were an "incredibly difficult decision", Denham said, and added councillors were on "tenterhooks" to see what further measures would be announced by the Chancellor in next month's Budget.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended his cut in winter fuel payments, saying "tough decisions" are needed "to stabilise the economy".

He has also said the impact on the 10 million pensioners losing out will be softened by a 4% increase in the state pension, due next April.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.