Rachel has welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister that the eligibility threshold for the winter fuel payment will be raised in the budget later this year. In a letter to constituents, she said:

Since last year North Warwickshire and Bedworth residents have been telling me that the government had set the bar too low for receiving the Winter Fuel Payment, meaning some pensioners who really needed government help were missing out.

 

While residents have welcomed other measures we are delivering to get a better deal for pensioners – such as the £25 billion investment we are making to fix the NHS, or the £470 increase in the state pension delivered by protecting the pensions triple lock – they didn’t feel that the eligibility threshold for the winter fuel payment was fair to many pensioners whose income sat above that limit.

 

Since then, I’ve made the views of constituents clear to ministers, so I’m pleased that the Prime Minister has listened and has now announced that the government will be rethinking this policy. It is therefore expected that at the next budget later this year, the government will raise the threshold at which pensioners can claim the Winter Fuel Payment to ensure that nobody who really needs that help will miss out.

 

Labour was elected on a platform of change, and that includes by being a government that listens to people and admits when they have got something wrong. I hope that this decision reassures you that we remain committed to getting a better deal for pensioners across the country.

 

While I do not know where the new limit will be set, I will continue to engage with my colleagues in government to ensure the new threshold means that all pensioners who are struggling will be able to receive the Winter Fuel Payment. I will updates residents further when I know more.