Our data shows how many people across the region will be affected by the government’s policy to scrap the fuel allowance
Nearly 150,000 people have called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reverse winter fuel cuts set to hit around 10 million pensioners. Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group, headed to Downing Street this morning, October 28, to urge the Chancellor to protect older people in Wednesday’s Budget. A petition, signed by almost 150,000 people, calls on the government to reverse plans to means-test the winter fuel allowance.
The cuts were announced among a number of “urgent decisions” Ms Reeves said were necessary because of the previous Tory government’s “undisclosed” overspending. They could save the government £1.5 billion. It means those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments, worth between £100 and £300. The petition calls for the government to restore “a universal winter fuel payment for all older people on modest incomes, payable automatically without the need to claim”.
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In 2022-23, just over 11.1 million pensioners were eligible for a winter fuel payment in England and Wales. But as of last November, only 1.2m were eligible for pension credits. That means just under 10m will miss out in England and Wales.
The cuts are most likely to affect pensioners in affluent areas, with more than nine in 10 pensioners missing out on fuel payments this year in some parts of the country. In Hart in Hampshire, for example, 95.2% of pensioners will no longer be eligible for the payments, which means only about one in 20 will receive it. But in local authority areas that are frequently ranked as having the highest levels of deprivation in the country, such as Blackpool and Middlesbrough, more than 80% of pensioners will lose the payments.
On Merseyside, the majority of pensioners will lose the allowance, but some boroughs will be more badly affected than others. You can see how many pensioners are likely to be eligible for payment next winter – and how many will miss out – using our interactive map.
The data shows that in Liverpool, 75% of pensioners will miss out on fuel payments this year. In 2022-23, 68,870 people were eligible for the payment, while this year, only 17,046 are estimated to be eligible.
In Knowsley, 77% of pensioners will miss out on fuel payments this year. In 2022-23, 24,351 people in the borough were eligible for the payment, while this year, only 5,627 are estimated to be eligible.
In Sefton, 86% of pensioners will miss out on fuel payments this year. In 2022-23, 60,003 people in the borough were eligible for the payment, while this year, only 8,393 are estimated to be eligible.
Wirral and St Helens pensioners have come out of the policy change the worst. 87% of pensioners in both boroughs will miss out on fuel payments this year. In 2022-23, 66,159 people in Wirral were eligible for the payment, while this year, only 8,922 are estimated to be eligible. In St Helens, 35,060 people were eligible for the payment last year, while only 4,742 will be eligible this year.
The change does not apply In Scotland, where responsibility for the payment is set to be transferred to the Scottish Government this winter and replaced with the pension-age winter heating payment.
