Over 39,000 Bolton pensioners to lose winter fuel payment

The £200 to £300 benefit was previously available to almost all UK pensioners, whether they were destitute or multi-millionaires.

Those on Pension Credit or means-tested benefits can still receive the payment under changes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves which is set to save £5.5 billion.

According to data from the Department of Work and Pensions, this means only about 7,400 Bolton pensioners will receive the payment meant to help with winter fuel costs after the changes, with 84 per cent being ineligible.

Bill Ingham with neighbour Lilian Farrington (Image: Newsquest)

Many of Bolton's pensioners will not receive the payment because their pension is only a few pounds too high to get Pension Credit. 

John Nuttall, 71, is one of them.

He said: "I don't get Pension Credit because I'm £2 over the limit.

“I get a state pension and £50 a month private. That is what took me over the limit.

"It’s a disgrace what they are doing.”

Christine Salt, 77, isn't happy she has to use the money she saved during her working life to spend during her retirement to support her in retirement.

Christine said: "About 18 months ago I moved into rented sheltered accommodation, my rent is just over £200 a week.

"As I am not entitled to any benefits and my pension doesn’t cover the rent, never mind electricity, council tax and food, I have to dip into my savings each month.

"My husband and I have always worked and contributed.

"How can it be fair that a lot of work-shy get this payment and people like me don’t?" 

Many have reacted to the news the way John and Christine have.

Bill Ingham, 69, of Daubhill said: “It's terrible. The next thing is they're going to strip the triple lock.

“I have worked 50 years. For 22 of those years, I did two jobs and got two stamps. If I hadn't, I'd be on Pension Credit.

“When you're on Pension Credit because you haven't worked all your life, you get almost £1,000 a month.

“Really, you're better off in this country not working and when you retire, you'll get a lot more money.

“I have loads of friends who are on Pension Credit and they're all gloating at me that they’re getting cold weather payment and I’m not, because I’ve worked.

“They think because you've worked, you're a millionaire.”

Sharon Hall said: “How is it the pensioners have paid their dues to the state all their lives and then, not only is their state pension far too low considering the cost of living and inflation, but the pension age has also risen. Now they also lose their fuel payment.

“I’m sorry, but there are plenty of people claiming benefits from the state who have never added to the pot.

“It is absolutely disgusting and should be investigated.

“People are not happy! Our pensioners should be looked after and respected, not having to worry about where the money is coming from to pay for bills, food, etc.”

John Walsh​

Cllr John Walsh, who represents Astley Bridge, said: “It’s the first of what I suspect will be many Labour tax rises because it will hit pensioners who are not on benefits and are on the margins very badly.

“This is a Labour tax that pensioners will have to face up to at a time when their fuel costs will be rising.

“The pensioners requiring more heat and higher energy costs in the winter are now losing that benefit.

“The Labour party will claim it’s not a tax rise, but it’s all but a tax rise.

“84 per cent [of pensioners being ineligible] proves just how adverse it will be since so many people are affected.

“And the knock-on effect is that pensioners will have to find the additional cost for their heating and have less to spend in the shops, so businesses will suffer.”

Cllr Hilary Fairclough (Image: Public)

Cllr Hilary Fairclough said: “I think to remove at such speed the winter fuel allowance for 84 per cent of Bolton pensioners was a mean and spiteful thing to do.

“Three weeks into their control they waded right into punishing pensioners, they couldn’t wait until the budget in October because that is when the payments start to roll out.

“Of course [in October], the weather will be much colder and the public would have been even angrier.

"I accept that some pensioners who receive tax credits will retain the winter fuel allowance, and there is no doubt that some probably don’t need it, but that still leaves many pensioners who are just above the threshold sometimes by only a couple of pounds a week financially worse off.

“These are often the very people who have worked hard all their lives, cost the taxpayer very little but are the first to be hit.”

Age UK has come out against the proposal, and its petition against it has more than 260,000 signatures..

Caroline Abrahams CBE, Age UK Charity Director, said:  "We strongly oppose the means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment because our initial estimate is that as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in trouble as a result – yet at the other end of the spectrum well-off older people will scarcely notice the difference – a social injustice.

“A big reason for this disastrous outcome is that more than one in three pensioners entitled to Pension Credit the qualifying benefit for Winter Fuel Payments under this proposal, don’t receive it, a proportion that’s been roughly constant for many years.

“More than 800,000 older people living on very low incomes, under £218.25 a week for single pensioners and under £332.95 for couples, who are already missing out on the Pension Credit they are entitled to get to boost their incomes, will now lose the WFP that helps them to pay their fuel bills.”

Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, took the decision to restrict winter fuel payments for pensioners on July 29.

Ms Reeves told the House of Commons that the previous Tory government “repeatedly, knowingly and deliberately” made spending commitments without knowing where the money was coming from, leaving a £22 billion black hole" in public finances.

She told them: “This level of overspending is not sustainable. Left unchecked, it is a risk to economic stability and, unlike the party opposite, I will never take risks with our country’s economic stability.

“So, it therefore falls to us to take the difficult decisions now to make further in-year savings. The scale of the situation we are dealing with means incredibly tough choices."

Bolton Labour councillors have been approached for comment.