Charities have called on Rachel Reeves to halt the proposed plans affecting pensioners
A petition calling on the UK Government to halt proposed plans to change the Winter Fuel Payment criteria has gained over 130,000 signatures days after being launched.
From this winter, fuel payments to pensioners in England and Wales will be restricted to those on benefits and pension credits which the UK’s leading charity for older people said could leave two million vulnerable pensioners struggling to stay warm.
Rachel Reeves made the announcement on Monday (29 July) among a series of other spending reviews. The Chancellor defended the decision, saying it was not one she wanted nor expected to make, but blamed the “black hole” in the public finances left by the last government which meant she had been forced to make “tough decisions”.
However 22 organisations have since written an open letter to the UK Government expressing their ‘deep concern’ over the change to the payment plan. The coalition urged the government to halt the change and instead launch an action plan to help all eligible pensioners access Pension Credit.
Age UK said that those on low incomes who just miss out on Pension Credit will be worse hit, along with older people with high energy needs due to disability or illness and the 800,000 who don’t receive Pension Credit but are eligible.
The petition calls on the Government to “halt their proposed change to the Winter Fuel Payment and think again.”
It says: “Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision.”
(Image credit: Sawa / Flickr)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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