Dorset MP calls winter fuel payment cuts “dangerous” for pensioners
Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Vikki Slade has urged the government to reverse winter fuel payment cuts, saying it’s “deeply worrying”
A Dorset MP has told us she fears thousands of pensioners will have to choose between food or warmth if winter fuel payments are cut.
Politicians have now voted to allow the controversial plan to go ahead, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves says will save about £1.5bn each year.
The payment is aimed at helping pensioners pay for higher fuel bills during the colder months, but now only the country's poorest pensioners will get financial aid.
More than 170,000 people across Dorset will be affected, with those just above the pension credit threshold the hardest hit.
MP for Mid Dorset & North Poole, Lib Dem Vikki Slade, said: “55% of people said they would heat their homes less this winter and one in five people said they would eat less. It’s unacceptable that people feel they have to make that choice.
“One lady that wrote me and said that she would now stay in bed for most of the day because that’s the only place she feels warm and I just think it's not how we should be treating vulnerable people.”
Previously, the payments were available to everyone above state pension age.
Now, the payment is £200 for households receiving pension credit where the recipients are all under 80 and if someone in the household is over the age of 80, the payment is increased to £300.
According to the latest official statistics, there are nearly 7,000 people over the age of 80 in Mid Dorset & North Poole at risk of losing their Winter Fuel Payments due to the government’s cuts,
MP Vikki Slade told us: “Dorset is an area with a lot of older people and there's also a lot of hidden poverty here and very high house prices, heating costs and low-income jobs.”
Vikki Slade, along with 228 other MPs voted to cancel the scheme, with many saying this is the “wrong decision” by government.
She said: “Although I think there may be some scope for tweaking the Winter Fuel Allowance, I think not so soon and not to the extent that they're doing it.
“People not on pension credit are not rich and there are other ways that you can raise money, through things like the windfall tax, the Non-dom scheme (the tax status of a person who is a UK resident but whose permanent home is abroad) or perhaps finding ways to tax banks.
“If you need to get money in, get the money in through taxing people who can afford it, not taking away a relatively small payment from those who can't afford it.”