Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Winter Fuel Payment: Means-testing

Monday 12 May 2025 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government made difficult choices leading to a 31 billion annual increase in pensioner support.
  • Increase in pension credit claims not allowed rose by 133%, with more than 100,000 awards not made.
  • Local authorities and third sector groups praised for rolling out programmes to support people during winter.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The Government launched a campaign to increase pension credit applications, but there was also an increase of 133% in the number of claims not allowed and more than 100,000 awards were denied. Pensioners facing arbitrary thresholds are losing out on support.

Question

The Government did indeed launch a campaign to increase the number of pension credit applications, but sadly there was also a surge—an increase of 133%—in the number of claims that were not allowed, and more than 100,000 awards were not made. For many pensioners, including a number in my constituency, the winter fuel payment was a lifeline—indeed, many need their heating to be turned on throughout the year, not just during the winter—but just because of an arbitrary threshold they now receive nothing at all, and they are losing out. Will the Government look at this again, given the impact and the risk of pushing more pensioners into poverty?

Answer from Torsten Bell (The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)

I can tell the right hon. Member about pensioner poverty. It halved under the last Labour Government and it rose on the Conservatives’ watch, by 200,000. Yes, we have had to make some difficult choices, but it is because of those difficult choices that we can afford a £31 billion annual increase in the state pension over the current Parliament and an extra £26 billion a year for the NHS. None of those choices would the Conservatives back, which is why the NHS and the state pension would be endangered on their watch.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The impact of means-testing winter fuel payment on poverty levels was not directly addressed; instead, focus was on overall pensioner poverty statistics and government spending commitments.

How: Redirecting To Broader Policy Context

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Q2 Cat Smith Lab Lancaster and Wyre
Benefits & Welfare
Context

Many pensioners who are just above the threshold for pension credit still face fuel poverty next winter.

Question

In my 10 years as a Member of Parliament, I have run consistent campaigns throughout my constituency to raise awareness of pension credit and encourage hundreds of people to sign up to it, but I know that many of my constituents are just above the threshold and by no means well off. What assessment will the Government make of those who are not eligible for pension credit but will still face fuel poverty next winter?

Answer from Torsten Bell (The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)

I am grateful for the work that has been done by councils and third sector organisations throughout the United Kingdom to drive uptake of pension credit. That work has led to the 50,000 extra awards that I mentioned earlier. The choices we have made mean that we can protect pensioners across the board, and the 4.1% increase in the state pension in April was possible exactly because of the tough choices that we have had to make.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific issue of non-eligible pensioners facing fuel poverty was not directly addressed; instead, focus was on general uptake and policy outcomes.

How: Redirecting To Broader Policy Context

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Q3 Tom Morrison Lib Dem Cheadle
Housing Energy Benefits & Welfare
Context

Stockport council was one of the first local authorities to roll out the warm spaces programme to support people in need during winter months.

Question

Stockport council was one of the first local authorities to roll out the warm spaces programme that was used by third sector groups to support people in need during the winter months. Will the Government commit themselves to helping authorities roll such programmes out earlier, in the face of the winter fuel cuts and rising energy prices?

Answer from Torsten Bell (The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)

I am grateful for the work of local authorities, including mine in Swansea, to provide places for pensioners and, in fact, members of all age groups to go to if they are in need during the winter. The most important action we can take is tackling directly the cause of the issues that the hon. Gentleman has raised by bringing down energy bills in the years ahead, moving away from the system that the Conservatives left us—which is dependent on the price of gas driven by the action of dictators such as Putin—and continuing to raise the state pension faster than inflation over the current Parliament, which is why the new state pension is set to increase by £1,900 by the end of this Parliament.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The direct commitment to helping roll out warm spaces programs earlier was not given; instead, focus was on broader energy policy and state pension increases.

How: Redirecting To Broader Policy Context

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Q4 Damien Egan Lab Bristol North East
Wales Benefits & Welfare
Context

The Work and Pensions Committee was at the Welsh Assembly to hear from Wales’s Older People’s Commissioner about pensioner poverty.

Question

This morning, the Work and Pensions Committee was at the Welsh Assembly, where we heard from Wales’s Older People’s Commissioner as part of our pensioner poverty review. I was impressed that Wales has a role with real legal clout. From what we heard, it is making a difference for older people in Wales. Do Ministers agree that we should at least look at extending that to England and Scotland?

Answer from Torsten Bell (The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)

We should always learn lessons from Wales. In fact, this Government are already doing that. The roll-out of free breakfast clubs, which is happening across England at the moment, was pioneered in Wales. Children are receiving a free breakfast because of the work done in Wales. I praise my hon. Friend and the entire Work and Pensions Committee for the work that it is doing as part of its inquiry into pensioner poverty. I will be coming to give evidence to the Committee shortly, and I know that its members have been listening not just in Wales but more widely, with events in Glasgow and Manchester as well.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The direct question about extending the Older People’s Commissioner role was not answered; instead, focus was on learning from Wales's initiatives.

How: Redirecting To Broader Policy Context

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Q5 Helen Whately Con Faversham and Mid Kent
Benefits & Welfare
Context

Many MPs have criticized the government for cutting the winter fuel payment, including Martin Lewis.

Question

I suspect that the hon. Members on the Government Front Bench are now surrounded: I suspect that they are the only people left in this Chamber who are prepared to defend the cutting of the winter fuel payment. Dozens of their own MPs have now joined a long list of people telling the Government that they have got it wrong, including the Welsh First Minister—talking about learning lessons from Wales—the money-saving expert Martin Lewis, and voters up and down this country. The Conservatives have led this campaign from the start, but if the Government will not listen to us, will they now listen to everyone else and think again?

Answer from Torsten Bell (The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)

We have set out our policy, but here we are 10 months on and I have no idea what the Conservatives’ policy is. I am not even sure that they know what their policy is. For all the shouting, there is no promise to reinstate a universal winter fuel payment. There is one policy from the Leader of the Opposition, the very woman who called for the winter fuel payment to be means-tested in 2022: now, she wants to means-test the entire state pension. Apparently, that is “exactly the sort of thing we will look at”. She thinks that is bold policymaking. It is not—it is bonkers.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The question about reinstating the winter fuel payment was not directly addressed; instead, focus was on criticizing the opposition's policy consistency.

How: Redirecting To Broader Policy Context

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