As much as 2 million financially struggling older individuals may lose annual funds price tons of of kilos underneath authorities plans to limit the winter gasoline allowance to the poorest pensioners, campaigners have warned.
Rachel Reeves introduced the plans in a speech on Monday outlining a collection of spending cuts to assist fill what the federal government says is a £22bn “black hole” within the public funds.
Charities criticised the adjustments, which may save £1.5bn, warning individuals who fail to say the primary qualifying profit, pension credit score, may face “heat or eat” dilemmas this winter as a result of they’ll lose eligibility for funds price as much as £300 a 12 months.
The chancellor additionally scrapped long-delayed plans drawn up by earlier Conservative administrations designed to guard people from having to promote their houses to fulfill giant social care payments, saving £1bn a 12 months by 2026.
Probably tens of millions of prosperous pensioners will lose winter gasoline funds of between £100 and £300 for every particular person, designed to assist individuals aged 67 or over pay heating payments within the coldest months of the years. Within the winter of 2022-23, some 11.4 million individuals acquired them, alongside additional one off value of residing funds of as much as £300.
Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, mentioned: “Our initial estimate is that as many as 2 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.”
She added: “Means-testing winter fuel payments this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision, and one that will potentially jeopardise their health as well as their finances – the last thing they or the NHS needs.”
Age UK estimates 800,000 older individuals on very low incomes – underneath £218.25 every week for single pensioners and underneath £332.95 for {couples} – are eligible for however don’t declare pension credit score, which would be the important qualifying profit for the winter gasoline funds underneath the plans, and will lose out.
The choice to means check winter gasoline funds – a common profit out there to all state pensioners since 1997 – got here as a shock, with earlier cost-cutting governments tending to shrink back from a reduce which may alienate older voters.
The Treasury mentioned the funds will now be focused at households over state pension age in England and Wales who’re in receipt of pension credit score and common credit score. These eligible will obtain £200, or £300 for these aged over 80. Winter gasoline funds are devolved in Scotland and Northern Eire.
“This will better target support for heating costs at those who need it, while all pensioners will benefit from the government’s commitment to maintain the triple lock for the basic and new state pension in this parliament,” a Treasury doc outlining the chancellor’s plans mentioned.
The federal government mentioned it had determined to desert the long-delayed social care charging reforms – often called the social care cap – as a result of the Conservatives had didn’t put apart cash to pay for them. It mentioned the cap could be unattainable to ship in full underneath beforehand introduced timeframes.
The cap was adopted by the then prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021 to fulfill a 2019 manifesto promise that pensioners wouldn’t must promote houses to fund care prices in outdated age. It raised the quantity of property an individual can have earlier than getting state funding for social care from £23,250 to £100,000 and capped lifetime care prices at £86,000.
A 12 months later the Conservatives delayed the introduction of the cap till October 2025 amid funding issues. These issues haven’t been resolved, and final week native authorities warned pushing forward with the cap with out further funding would push some councils out of business.
Martin Tett, the grownup social care spokesperson for the County Councils Community, mentioned failing to take ahead the reforms within the present parliament “will be frustrating to campaigners”. However pushing forward with out correct funding would have “catastrophic consequences” for council funds and people who obtain social care.
Thea Stein, the chief government of the Nuffield Belief, mentioned: “While the specific reforms scrapped today were only a partial solution, they were at least something – and the danger now is that social care remains in the long grass … we urgently need to move social care reform from being tomorrow’s aspiration to being today’s priority.”
